As Telangana declared its Intermediate Public Examination or Class XII board results on Tuesday, 28 June, conjoined twins Veena and Vani secured 712 and 707 marks out of 1,000, respectively. The two have been in the care of Telangana's women and child welfare department since they were children.
In 2020, Veena and Vani secured 9.3 and 9.2 CGPA in their Class X examination. Currently, they are 19 years old.
Veena and Vani celebrate their IPE grades.
(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)
The twins' parents had left them in the state's care because they could not afford their medical expenses. Speaking to reporters, the twins thanked the state education department for allowing them to write the examination even though they could have done it only together and not in isolation.
'No Special Privileges During Exam'
The twins, who were eligible for privileges including additional time to write the examinations, had refused the same. In fact, they finished writing the examination five minutes prior to the scheduled time, they told reporters in Hyderabad.
Veena and Vani when they were seven years of age.
(Photo: Twitter)
The twins were left in the care of Niloufer Hospital till 13 years of age as their father Naga Murali had said soon after their birth that his family would not be able to provide for the children, who require constant medical attention and help.
After their stay in Niloufer Hospital, Veena and Vani were shifted to a home run by the women and child welfare department. In both Niloufer Hospital and at the home, the state had provided tutors to the children.
A Long, Abandoned Wait for Separation
Since their time at Niloufer Hospital, efforts have been made to separate the twins surgically. However, several teams of surgeons, including an expert team from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)-New Delhi, had deemed the surgical separation risky.
Veena and Vani when they were three years of age.
(Photo: Twitter)
Such a separation could result in the demise of either of the children or both, the doctors had opined.
By 2015, Veena and Vani themselves had given up hope of separation. Meanwhile, their father Murali had been asking the state government to give the family financial support to take care of the children.
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