Bihar’s conjoined twin sisters ‘shocked’ by Salman’s conviction

Patna : The conviction of Bollywood superstar Salman Khan on Thursday by a Jodhpur court in a 1998 blackbuck poaching case has left two conjoined twin sisters — both avid fans of the Bollywood hero — shocked, their parents said.

Saba and Farah, aged 22, began to cry as they soon as they came to know about the court verdict. Their mother could only wipe their tears and assure them of justice to their idol.

Their father Shakeel Ahmad said the twins — joined at the head since birth — had not slept well on Wednesday night and also woke up early this morning as they knew of the impending court verdict.

The twins even refused to eat anything and have been praying ever since the court verdict for the well-being of their ‘bhaijaan’, as they call Salman Khan.

“We never expected he would be jailed. We will pray to Allah for ‘reham’ (mercy) and relief to him,” they said at their house in a narrow lane in Samanpura locality in Patna.

Shakeel said the sisters were die-hard fans of Salman Khan since childhood. “Their love for him grew even stronger when the Bollywood star invited them to his Mumbai residence a few years ago on Raksha Bandhan and gifted them Rs 50,000.”

Medical tests of Farah and Saba indicate they have separate brains and are even neurologically normal, though only one of them has the kidneys.

Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed had earlier offered to pay for their surgery but the family refused since it could put the life of one of them at risk.

American neurosurgeon Dr Benjamin Carson too had offered to operate on the conjoined twins a few years ago.

In 2013, the Supreme Court had ordered the Bihar government to extend financial help to the family.

IANS