Irom Sharmila delivers twin girls in Bengaluru

Human rights and political activist from Manipur, Irom Sharmila, delivered twin girls in the city on Sunday, which incidentally happened to be Mother's Day.

The children have been named Nix Shakhi and Autumn Tara.

Dr. Sriprada Vinekar, Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at Cloudnine Group of Hospitals, Malleswaram, the consulting doctor, told

The Hindu that both children and the mother were healthy.

The couple requested for privacy and did not speak to the media.

Irom Sharmila, 47, went on a hunger strike in 2000 protesting the Malom massacre, where 16 people were shot dead in Manipur, allegedly by the army. She was on a hunger strike for 16 long years demanding the Indian government repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.

After she ended her fast in 2016, she made an unsuccessful attempt in politics. She married her long time partner Desmond Anthony Bellarnine Coutinho, a British citizen, in Kodaikanal in August 2017.