First Glimpse: Civil rights activist Irom Sharmila's twins who were born on Mother's Day

Irom Sharmila, known across the world as the Iron Lady of Manipur became a proud mother of twins this Mother's Day. The civil rights activist, who is known for her 16-year hunger strike against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in the state, gave birth to twin girls on Sunday in Bengaluru.

In the three pictures released by Cloudnine Hospital, Malleswaram, where she delivered the babies, Sharmila and her husband, Desmond Anthony Bellarnine Coutinho, can be seen posing for a family portrait along with the twins who were born a minute apart.

(Irom Chanu Sharmila with her twins Shakhi and Tara: Cloudnine Hospital Malleswaram)

Earlier, Doctors at Cloudnine Group of Hospitals, where Sharmila gave birth on Mother’s day, said the babies and the mother were in good health.

“It was a C-section (Caesarean) because there were twin babies...Children are very cute and are in good health,” Dr Sripada Vinekar said.

Sharmila was undergoing regular consultations at the hospital over the nine-months of her pregnacy.

Regional director of the Hospitals, Nitin Nag, in a release said “Twin-1 was born at 9.21 am with the birth weight of2.16 kg and Twin-2 was born at 9.22 am with a birth weight of 2.14 kg.

Parents have named the twins and Nix Shakhi and Autumn Tara. Both the babies and the mother are doing well.

The 46-year-old Sharmila, who conducted a 16-year hunger strike demanding withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Manipur, married her partner Desmond Anthony Bellarnine Coutinho, in 2017at Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu.

Sharmila, popularly known as the Iron Lady of Manipur, ended the protest in 2016.

She had even contested the assembly election in 2017 against chief minister Ibobi Singh. However, she lost.

(With inputs from PTI)