INDIA: The country's top court orders Bihar State to provide monthly financial assistance to the family of conjoined twins

Record ID: 1376201

  • Title: INDIA: The country's top court orders Bihar State to provide monthly financial assistance to the family of conjoined twins
  • Date: 10th April 2013
  • Summary: NEW DELHI, INDIA (APRIL 10, 2013) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (ANI-NO ACCESS BBC) VARIOUS OF INDIA'S SUPREME COURT VARIOUS OF LAWYER FOR THE TWINS' FAMILY, RAVI PRAKASH GUPTA, OUTSIDE THE COURT BUILDING (SOUNDBITE) (Hindi) LAWYER FOR THE TWINS' FAMILY, RAVI PRAKASH GUPTA, SAYING: "In today's judgement the court has ordered the Bihar government to pay rupees 5,000 ($ 92) per month
  • Embargoed: 25th April 2013 20:26
  • Keywords:
  • Location: India
  • Country: India
  • Topics: Health,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6SDW4TWK6WIAJO4XFMIOIV4H2
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: India's top court on Wednesday (April 10) ordered Eastern Bihar State to give monthly financial assistance to the family of conjoined twins, Saba and Fara, and to regularly monitor their health.
    Daughters of a roadside food stall seller Saba and Farah Shakeel, 17, have been awarded USD$92 per month by the court.
    They have undergone a battery of tests to make surgical seperation a viable option.
    Doctors say the separation surgery will be complicated because the girls share a major blood vessel in the brain and only one of the girls has both kidneys while the other has none.
    Stating the Supreme Court's judgement, the twins lawyer Prakash Gupta said that India's eastern Bihar state would have to ensure regular health check up of the twins.

    "In today's judgement the court has ordered the Bihar government to pay 5,000 rupees (USD$92) per month to the family of the twins. This is the first order. The second order is that the surgeon in Patna hospital would have to examine periodically the twins and the reports would have be sent to the All India Institute of Medical Science," said Gupta outside the supreme court.
    For the twins living in Patna city, the order of the Supreme Court was a welcome one and they were happy that the court pronounced the verdict in their favour.

    "We are very happy with the verdict of the Supreme Court, which has now provided for medical treatment. We are very happy." said one of the conjoined twins Saba.
    The family of Saba and Farah said that they respected the Supreme Court's order and that the most important thing for them is for the girls to remain healthy.

    "Whatever treatment the twins require, it should be given to them. We respect the judgment of the Supreme Court. The order is in our favour because our only wish is that the twins stay alive. They should remain healthy and happy," said Mohammad Tammanah, brother of the conjoined twins.
    Conjoined twins occur roughly once in every 50,000 births and few are born alive or live long. For the twins to undergo surgery, one or both often die after the operation and the rate of survival beyond the age of two is just 20 percent.
  • Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
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