(PTI)  Two sisters from Patna, Saba and Farah, 14, Siamese or conjoined twins, want to die. They say that their health has been deteriorating ever since they underwent checkups at Delhi’s Apollo Hospital six years ago. They are from a poor family and since no financial help is coming their way for their treatment, it’s better that they die.
 
“Since we underwent checkups at the hospital, we have developed deformities in our arms and legs, which have become twisted,” said Farah over telephone from Patna, her speech slurred, which is another problem they developed after the check-up. “We have a lot of pain in our bodies. We often wake up crying at night,” said Saba.

The hospital denies this charge. “No formal check-ups were conducted on the girls. They were advised to undergo the operation for separation, after citing the risks, but their family refused,” said Parul Chhabra, spokesperson of Apollo Hospital.

The girls’ brother, Tamanna, however, says that the hospital never informed them what tests the girls were made to undergo. “We got to know through the media that they underwent MRI, etc.,” he said. The girls’ family is yet to receive the test reports. “We asked many times over these years, but they never provided them to us,” he said.

The girls claim that they underwent check-ups at the hospital in 2005, after the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi promised them financial help to have them separated. A world renowned specialist, Benjamin Carson, was also consulted. Considering the risks involved in their separation — the girls share a crucial blood vessel and both kidneys are in Farah’s body — their father refused to get his daughters operated upon. Incidentally, the promised financial help from the Crown Prince never arrived. “We did not get any money. We had to borrow money to go to Delhi and meet the expenses,” said Tamanna. He said that the health of the girls began to deteriorate after the trip. “They used to be healthy and normal before. I noticed that they developed joint pain and deformities post the check-ups,” he claimed.