Dhaka: The High Court (HC) on Tuesday fixed November 16 for the next hearing on its previous order to explain the incident where a doctor took out one half of a pair of twins from the womb of a woman and stitched the belly keeping the other inside thinking it to be a tumour.

Besides, the HC dispensed the Civil Surgeon of Comilla from personal appearance.

An HC bench of Justice Salma Masud Chowdhury and Justice AKM Zahirul Hoque passed the order.

The court asked the owner of Life Hospital and Digital Diagnostic Centre of Gouripur in Daudkandi upazila of Comilla and Dr Sheikh Hosne Ara Begum who conducted the caesarean section to appear before the court on the day again.

The HC also ordered to submit probe report which has already been submitted to the Ministry of Health.

On October 29, the court summoned three people, including the civil surgeon of Comilla, to appear before it today on a suo moto order following a newspaper report.

On September 18 last, Dr Sheikh Hosne Ara Begum took out one half of a pair of twins from the womb of a woman and stitched the belly keeping the other inside thinking it to be a tumour.

One month and seven days after the caesarian section, the other baby was brought out from the womb at Dhaka Medical College Hospital in the capital on October 25 but it was dead by the time.

The presence of twins was detected in an ultrasonography when Khadija Akhter, wife of Awal Hossain of Algirchar village in Homna upazila of Comilla, was eight months pregnant.

However, the physician found only a baby in the womb during the operation on September 18 and told the relatives that the other one was a ‘tumour’.

Accordingly, the doctor brought the one baby and stitched the belly keeping the other one inside.

As the woman started having pain in the abdomen, she was taken to a hospital and the presence of another baby was detected through an ultrasonography after 15 days.

Finally, she was brought to the DMCH on October 22.