India's Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled out any immediate
surgery to separate 17-year-old twin sisters joined at the head, citing the
need for more expert medical opinion.
A division bench of the court said they had taken note of
the fact the twins shared a vital blood vessel in the brain and that only one
of them had kidneys.
twins Sabah (L) and Farah
"No positive direction can be given in the absence of
an expert medical opinion indicating either of them can be saved due to a
surgical operation," the bench said.
The court, however, ordered the government of the eastern
state of Bihar to pay 5,000 rupees ($92) a month to the parents to meet the
twins' medical expenses.
The twins welcomed the court's ruling.
"The court's verdict will provide us time to live
together -- like we have since birth," Saba told AFP in Patna.
Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan and Dipak Mishra revealed in
their ruling that they had spent "sleepless nights" in seeking to
arrive at a solution for the twin sisters.
"Seldom does society care or know the mental and
psychological trauma... (that) judges undergo, especially when they are called
upon to decide an issue touching human life, either to save or take away,"
the order read.
Saba and Farah Saleem, who are mostly bed-ridden, hail from
a poor family in Bihar with their father running a small roadside eatery in the
capital city of Patna.
Their condition has drawn the attention of global medical
specialists, with US neurosurgeon Benjamin Carson travelling to Bihar to study
their case in 2011.
Carson had warned that surgery to separate the twins could
be risky, following which the parents decided against any operation. Local
media reports said they had even rejected a reported offer from the crown
prince of Abu Dhabi to pay for surgery.
The ruling was the outcome of a public interest suit filed
by a law student seeking financial support for the maintenance of the twins and
to provide them proper medical care.
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