A team of five doctors today operated on a seven-month-old girl and recovered a 700gram male foetus from her belly. 

The surgery was conducted at Dhaka Medical College Hospital under the supervision of Prof Ashraf-ul Huq from 9:00am to 11:30am, officials at the hospital told The Daily Star.

The patient, Sajida, is the only daughter of Shafiqul Islam and Anjumanara Begum Sumi of Gazipur.

Sajida was born on September 10, 2014, and four months after her birth her belly started to grow and move abnormally, her mother told The Daily Star.

“We took her to a health complex in Mauna, Gazipur to do an ultrasound test. After the test, the doctors told us she had a tumour,” she added.

“On March 9, another ultrasound was done on Sajida by the doctors of Mymensingh Medical College Hospital who found another baby in her belly,” Sumi also said.

Sajida was admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital on March 13 for a surgery.

She was suffering from jaundice and infection in wind-pipe when she was brought to the hospital.

“The child’s jaundice and wind-pipe infection delayed the surgery,” Dr Sahadeb Kumar Das told The Daily Star.

“The foetus had developed limbs, and was a male baby. The heart was not primarily found in the foetus. The right arm was shorter than the left arm, however, the legs were normal,” Dr Sahadeb also said.  

“The babies were actually twins inside their mother’s womb. When the boy could not grow properly, he was eventually swallowed by his sister,” he added.