Priyanjana Datta, Bangalore: Two-year-old Lakshmi is unlike an average girl her age. Born into a poor family in a village in Araria district near the Bihar-Nepal border, she is an Ischiopagus Tetrapus conjoined twin which means she is two bodies untied at the pelvis.

However only one of the twins has a head and the other is a parasite. "First when we saw her we were really scared. She was born during Diwali so everyone in the village said our child was Goddess Lakshmi incarnate because she had eight limbs. Everyone started worshipping her. We also worshipped her,” says Lakshmi's father, Shambhu.

Soon her parents realised that she needed urgent medical attention. After several surgeons refused to take up the case saying it's too risky, a Bangalore-based surgeon took it up.

“It is a surgery with a great amount of risk unlike routine surgical procedures. This is a special situation,” says Orthopaedic Surgeon, Sparsh Hospital, Dr Sharan Shivraj Patil.

A 36-member medical team led by Dr Sharan will begin the surgery on Tuesday morning that could last nearly two days.

“First aspect is to disentangle or get rid of the parasitic twin away from Lakshmi. Equally important will be the reconstruction of all the pelvic structures. There are anywhere between 20-30 percent chance of losing the baby,” says Dr Sharan Shivraj Patil.

Fortunately for Lakshmi, the surgery that costs upto Rs 25 lakh is being performed for free. Now all that this energetic two-year-old needs are your prayers. “Please pray that she is successful,” says Lakshmi's mother, Poonam.

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