Hyderabad: The state government shifted conjoined twins Veena and Vani to the state Home, Shishu Vihar, at Ameerpet on Sunday morning. The move had been kept a secret and their parents Naga and Maragani Murali were also not aware of the shift.
The twins were shifted from the hospital at 7.30 am along with a health official and an ayah. Veena and Vani had celebrated their 14th birthday on October 15 in Niloufer Hospital, their home since 2003. Their coming of age was one of the reasons for the hospital to ask the government to shift them to the Shishu Vihar, Ameerpet.
Explaining the reasons for shifting them, a senior doctor at Niloufer Hospital said, “They are growing teenagers and need to learn social skills and interact with other children of their age. It was not possible in a hospital. Their safety in the hospital was a cause for concern.”
The government had announced in August last year that they would be shifted to a state Home, but the paper work took time. Besides, the girls had to be mentally prepared for shifting to a new place.
A senior doctor said, “They were brought up in the hospital when their parents expressed their inability to take care of them. They have been in the premises for more than a decade and are friendly with the doctors and ayahs. They had to be counselled about the new place. Their condition may also draw awe and ridicule from some of the children at Shishu Vihar, and they have been counselled about the same.”
While both the girls are intelligent, their social skills have not been developed as they have been living in a single room and interacting only with a select few personnel from the hospital.
Mr Mujtaba Askari, who has filed a public interest litigation in the High Court on August 10, had appealed to the court to look into their living conditions and provide them an open and ventilated space along with trained supervisors for care.
Asked about the transfer to Shishu Vihar, Mr Askari said, “We welcome the move but the government should have informed the parents and the High Court as the petition is pending before it.” The government had not filed a counter to the PIL, he said/
The surgical separation of the twins has been rejected on the grounds of high risk of complications, including death on the operation table, by doctors from the United Kingdom and also AIIMS. The government has sent their medical records to Australia to check on any possibility to separate them.
