Facing an uncertain future, the 14-year-old conjoined twins were on Sunday shifted from the local Niloufer Hospital to the State Home.
On New Year's Day, Veena and Vani stepped into the state-run shelter, moving out of the children's hospital, which had been their home since their parents abandoned them due to poverty in 2006.
With the risk in surgery increasing and chances of separating them slimming, the Telangana government shifted them out of the hospital.
The staff and residents of the State Home welcomed the conjoined twins with New Year greetings. A girl was holding placard with the New Year greetings as the twins reached the shelter run by the Department of Women Development and Child Welfare for women in distress and victims of atrocities.
The state government took the decision in August last year to shift the twins but it could not be implemented as the girls were reluctant.
The twins had been living in a hospital room for over 11 years and had developed a bonding with the caretakers. On many occasions, they had stated that they want to stay at the hospital.
However, taking care of the Siamese twins was proving a burden for the cash-strapped hospital. The hospital authorities were of the view that taking the girls out of the hospital was also essential for their psychological development.
The hospital officials had earlier asked the parents to take home the girls. However, N. Murali, a daily-wage labourer in Warangal district, and his wife Nagalakshmi said they have no means to take care of the twins in this condition.
No surgery could be performed to separate them due to the risks involved. They were examined by experts from Singapore and London in the past.
In 2015, doctors from the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) had visited Hyderabad and examined the twins.
Although the Telangana government came forward to bear all the expenditure for the surgery, it could not be performed as the doctors said this could endanger the lives of the twins.
--IANS
ms/nir/vt
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