Thane: Inspired by Akshay Kumar's film "Padman" which raised awareness about menstrual hygiene, a 13-year-old Dubai-based girl has adopted 250 girls from rural Maharashtra and donated sanitary napkins to them. Riva Tulpule, whose family hails from Maharashtra, managed to collect funds for the cause in Dubai in the last couple of months.

She flew down to India last week and distributed about one-year stock of sanitary pads to girls from schools in Sahapur taluka on Saturday. "I saw 'Padman' some months back and came to know about problems faced by girls during the days of their periods. I immediately decided to do something for girls living in villages in India, especially Maharashtra," she said.