Vaishali Yadav never in her wildest dreams thought of landing in trouble when she made an SOS from Ukraine last week.
When the war descended on Ukraine full on, the 25-year-old medical student from Hardoi, UP, studying in Ukraine's Ivano Frankvisk city, desperately appealed for safe passage home.
She was to return from Ukraine on February 24 when an explosion at the Ukranian airport prevented her departure. She was left to fend for herself like hundreds of other Indian national trapped there. Desperate, she took to social media posting a video appealing for help. Her video went viral quite unlike many other SOS videos from the war-ravaged Ukraine.
She could never have been officially out there in the first place, being an elected Pradhan Adhyhaksh (President) in Teri Pursauli gram panchayat in the polls last year. On 23 September, a month into her five-year tenure, Vaishali left for Ukraine to complete her medical degree, according to a report in Indian Express.
Her appeal for help apart, her absence back home gave rise to speculations that UP police had arrested Vaishali for the " fake message". Many doubted her ever being present in Ukraine. Hardoi Police denied the arrest. But the fact that she was present in Ukraine while she should have been in her home village complicated things further.
The Hardoi administration has now given her a show cause notice and is probing the functioning of the gram panchayat since her election, according to Indian Express. As per rules, gram panchayat has to meet once a month, allowing for the gap between meetings never exceeding two months. Also, a panchayat member cannot be absent for three consecutive meetings, the report says.
Against the rules, Vaishali left for Ukraine within a month of her election. Her father Mahendra Pratap Singh and former block pramukh from Sandi, however, claimed that she always touched base with the village over WhatsApp and Internet calling.
"Whatever the issues were, they were conveyed to her and she was actively managing it. She attended one meeting and would have been in time for the second meeting. The present government has not carried out any development and the onus is on us to make sure facilities reach people," said Singh.
The Hardoi administration has ordered to probe into the matter.