Trolled for facial hair, Ex-UP Board topper Prachi Nigam does it again scoring 91.2% in Class 12, says ‘it helped me…'

Prachi Nigam, the Uttar Pradesh student who topped her Class 10 board exams in 2024 but was subjected to widespread trolling over her facial hair, has once again made headlines — this time for her academic performance and quiet resilience.

The Sitapur-based student has scored an impressive 91.2% in her Class 12 board examinations. Her subject-wise marks underline her consistency: 99 in Mathematics, 96 in Hindi, 95 in Chemistry and 93 in Physics. English remained her lowest-scoring subject at 73 — something she attributed to focusing more on JEE preparation, according to a Live Hindustan report.

But alongside her results, it is an old video from We The Women Mumbai 2024, where she spoke to journalist Barkha Dutt, that is once again going viral.

Check out the video here:

In the resurfaced clip, Prachi reflects on the trolling she faced after her Class 10 results went viral — and delivers a line that has struck a chord online:

“When my 10th exam result was out, I didn't know that people would talk about this. My teachers, my class, my principal, never told me anything about this. Later, when I came back home from school, I found out that people were trolling me. But, those who trolled me, it was good for me, because I got a chance to meet good people.”

She added, “It's a great opportunity for me. I'm sitting here today because of them. People trolled me so much, that I initially became famous in UP and now people know me across India.”

She concluded by saying, “No matter what you do—good or bad—people will criticize. So you might as well stay focused on your goals and ignore the noise.”

The statement, simple yet deeply self-assured, captures her approach to criticism — one rooted in clarity rather than confrontation.

Prachi revealed that she had never even been conscious of her appearance before the backlash.

“When my result came out, I didn’t know people would talk about this,” she said, adding that neither her teachers nor her school had ever pointed it out.

Interestingly, she reframed the trolling not as a setback, but as a turning point.

“Those who trolled me, it was good for me… maybe I am sitting here today because of them.”

Her perspective challenges the conventional narrative around online harassment — not by just dismissing it, but by extracting agency from it.

Prachi Nigam’s journey had already drawn attention in 2024 when she topped Class 10 with 591/600 marks. At the time, her viral photograph triggered sexist commentary, sparking conversations around beauty standards and online toxicity.

Despite that, she remained focused on her goals. She has consistently said she wants to become an engineer and study at an IIT.

In another interview with BBC, she said, “If I had a few fewer marks, I would not have topped and got famous. Maybe that would have been better. I don't care much about the situation because I have been facing this for a long time. People see girls with hair and feel weird about it because they have not seen this before.”

Her latest results reinforce that the noise never derailed her trajectory.