Parents give up on conjoined twins, asks Telangana govt to take care of them

Hyderabad: Mr Naga and Ms Maragani Murali, parents of conjoined twins Veena and Vani, on Tuesday approached deputy Chief Minister Kadiam Srihari and requested the government to take care of the twins.

The parents are not willing to take them home despite an All India Institute of Medical Sciences report stating that surgery to separate them would be life threatening.

Mr Murali petitioned the government stating that they could not take care of the girls and the government should attend to them and also provide a house for them in Hyderabad and employment.

Doctors in Niloufer Hospital said that they had been waiting for a week for the parents to give consent for a future course of action. Senior doctors had given five days to the family to decide as the girls are now 13 and can no longer be kept in the hospital.

Veena and Vani are intelligent and doing fairly well in studies. A tutor teaches the girls in the hospital. Ms Ayama Padmavati, who has been taking care of them for the last three years said, “The girls are smart, intelligent and disciplined. They are well-mannered and listen to the hospital staff. Now as they are 13 years old the doctors want them to be shifted.”

Two to three ayahs take care of the twins in shifts and attend to all their needs right from food, clothing to even disciplining them when needed.

Dr Ramesh Reddy, professor and head of the department of paediatric surgery, said, “Due to their increasing age it is becoming difficult to keep them in the hospital. The girls need to go to their home or they require to be rehabilitated in a proper home where they can be well looked after.”

Other doctors said that they had approached the best surgeons in the world for their separation but they all said surgery was risky. Meanwhile the twin’s parents, whenever approached by government authorities, have cited their inability to take care of the girls.