Civil rights activist Irom Sharmila, known across the world as the Iron Lady of Manipur for her 16-year hunger strike against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in the state, gave birth to twin girls on Mother’s Day in Bengaluru.

The 46-year-old had settled in Kodaikanal after her marriage with Desmond Coutinho in 2017. She gave birth after 35 weeks of pregnancy through a C-section delivery at Malleshwaram branch of the Cloudnine hospital at 9:21 am on Sunday.

The activist and her husband, Goan-born British national Desmond Coutinho, have named their daughters Nix Sakhi and Autumn Tara and the babies weighed 2.16 kg and 2.15 kg, respectively, at the time of the delivery.

“This is a new life, a new beginning for me. I am very happy. Neither Desmond nor I had any preference, we just wanted healthy children,” Sharmila was quoted as saying by news website.

She added that her happiness doubled on realising that her daughters were born on Mother’s Day. 

If You Like This Story, Support NYOOOZ

NYOOOZ SUPPORTER

₹ 10 - ₹ 1000

NYOOOZ FRIEND

₹ 2000 - ₹ 5000

Your support to NYOOOZ will help us to continue create and publish news for and from smaller cities, which also need equal voice as much as citizens living in bigger cities have through mainstream media organizations.