Conjoined Twins Rabeya, Rokeya Return Home

Conjoined twins babies -- Rabeya and Rokeya -- are finally returning home from the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Dhaka on Sunday after successful treatment following a critical separation surgery on the head.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina addressed a function arranged on the eve of the return of the conjoined twins to their home in the Mujib Borsha, joining it at CMH virtually from her official residence Ganobhaban.

''Today Rabeya and Rokeya are returning to their home, and they’ll play and laugh around their parents. It's really a big achievement,'' she said.

Sheikh Hasina said the successful surgical operation during the celebration of the Mujib Borsho and the Golden Jubilee of the Independence is really a big achievement for Bangladesh.

Noting that a total of 48 operations were conducted in the separation process of the conjoined babies, she said it was a rare surgery and new experience for Bangladesh.

On August 01, 2019, the conjoined sisters were separated through a 33-hour critical operation with the participation of 100 physicians from Bangladesh and 34 ones from Hungary.

The Prime Minister said she took the initiative for the separation of the conjoined babies after her younger sister Sheikh Rehana informed about the twins seeing a newspaper story.

''Today is really a day of joy and a pleasant feeling for me…Their successful return to home in this month of March and the Mujib Borsha is a matter of joy for all,'' she said.

The Prime Minister also talked to the five-year-old conjoined babies and they also greeted her saying the words 'Assalamu Alaikum'.

She expressed her sincere thanks to the country’s doctors, Hungarian physicians and all other people and institutes who were engaged in the operation for working with sincerity for the separation of the conjoined twins. ''You've done absolutely humanitarian work…. You've done it with courage and got success,'' she said.

Chief of Army Staff General Aziz Ahmed, noted burn and plastic surgery specialist Dr. Samanta Lal Sen and Taslima Khatun, among others, spoke on the occasion.

On July 16, 2016, the conjoined twins were born in Pabna. Their parents are primary school teachers Taslima Khatun and Rafiqul Islam.

The conjoined twins have been getting treatments at home and abroad immediately after their birth as per the directives of the Prime Minister.