Parents of woman who died when Irish doctors refused to perform abortion meet with Indian government to demand justice

• Savita Halappanavar, 31, was found to be miscarrying when she was admitted to Galway University Hospital
• The dentist, who was 17 weeks pregnant, was denied a medical termination, and died from septicaemia on October 28
• Indian officials have promised parents Anadappa and Akka Mahadevi Yalgi all possible help
• Pro-choice campaigners plan mass rallies in Ireland calling for abortion to be legalised
  

By Rebecca Seales

Published: 14:53 EDT, 16 November 2012 | Updated: 16:49 EDT, 17 November 2012

The parents of an Indian woman who died of blood poisoning after Irish doctors refused her an abortion have met officials to demand justice for their daughter.

Savita Halappanavar, 31, was 17 weeks pregnant when she began miscarrying, and died of septicaemia a week later.

Her husband Praveen Halappanavar, 34, has told how he begged doctors at Galway University Hospital to terminate the pregnancy, but they refused to do so because she was ‘in a Catholic country’ and the foetus’s heartbeat was still present.

The tragedy has provoked soul searching in the Republic of Ireland, where abortion is illegal, as well as considerable anger in some quarters.

Campaigners are demanding a change in the law to allow abortion in the case where the mother’s life is in danger.

Savita’s parents Anadappa Yalgi, 62, and his wife Akka Mahadevi Yalgi, 54, met with municipal government officials late on Friday afternoon at the family home in Belgaum, South West India.

The grieving couple asked Belgaum’s Deputy Commissioner, Anbu Kumar, to help ensure every possible assistance from the Indian government.

Mr Kumar said of the encounter: ‘I visited the house and offered our government’s help where possible.’

A photo of Savita now hangs in the family home covered in a garland, as is traditional in India’s Hindu community after the death of a loved one.

Echoing comments made by her parents, India’s ambassador to Ireland said today that Mrs Halappanavar might still be alive today if she had been treated in India.

Debashish Chakravarti told RTÉ radio that he hoped the Irish government would take steps to ensure the circumstances which led to her death never arose again. 

Abortion is not illegal in India when the mother’s life is at risk, the ambassador noted.

Meanwhile Ireland’s ambassador to India, Feilim McLaughlin, was officially summoned by the Delhi government on Friday to discuss an inquiry into Mrs Halappanavar’s death.

Madhusudan Ganapathi, secretary (west) in the external affairs ministry, told the Irish envoy he hoped the inquiry into the tragedy would be independent.

He also conveyed the sadness felt by people in India as ‘a young life had come to an untimely end’.

India’s External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said of the tragedy: “Saving the life of the mother is of prime importance, if you can’t save the life of the child.”

Mr Halappanavar, Savita’s husband, has described how he held her hand as she died.

Reliving her final moments, he said: ‘In the night, at around one o’clock, the nurse came running, as I was standing outside ICU.

‘She just told me to be brave, and she took me near Savita, and she said: “Will you be OK to be there, living her last minutes?

‘I said: “Yes, I want to”. I was holding her hand, they were trying to pump her heart, there was a big team around. The doctor just told me they lost her.’

Mr Halappanavar, who works as an engineer at Boston Scientific in Galway, came to Ireland from India with his wife four years ago to start a new life together. She had a job in Westport, Co Mayo and the pair lived in Galway city.

Happy couple: Savita and her husband Praveen dancing at 2010 Diwali festival in Galway, video from YouTube

They were so excited about the expected birth of their first child, which was due on March 20, that they had an early baby shower in recent weeks when Mrs Halappanavar’s parents were visiting.

Pro-choice activists in Ireland have turned to social media networks to organise a mass protest against the country’s abortion laws on Saturday.

A rally in central Dublin is expected to attract several thousand demonstrators, and follows similar rallies on Thursday night in Belfast and on Friday in Derry.

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Taylor Swift finally received the go-ahead to perform after a four-hour weather delay kept fans waiting in Tennessee on Sunday.

Taylor’s third concert at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium saw its start time delayed due to lightning in the area causing fans to remain under Shelter in Place until the storm passed. 

Nissan Stadium advised concert-goers that the lightning warning had been lifted in a tweet that referenced Swift’s 2010 song Sparks Fly.

‘Drop everything now … meet me in the pouring rain. Shelter in Place has officially been lifted. Fans, please start making your way to your seats. Once production wraps up, Taylor Swift will hit the stage.’

Swift announced she would be taking to the stage at a delayed time with an Instagram post writing that she had been ‘moved by these beautiful, generous Nashville crowds!!!! I just can’t believe it. PS I know there’s talk of a rainy weather vibe tonight but I’m ready to play, see you sooon!!’

Also on Sunday, Taylor won Best Song at the MTV Movie & TV Awards for Carolina from Where The Crawdads Sing.

The record-breaking Eras tour arrived in Nashville on Friday for three nights at Nissan Stadium.

The 12-time Grammy winner conquered the stage in multiple outfits, including a rhinestone leotard with nude tights, and a sultry one-legged black bodysuit bedazzled with ruby red snakes.

The hitmaker recently dropped four new songs in celebration of her tour, three of which are re-recordings of past songs, to hype up fans for this tour. 

The 33-year-old superstar was pictured for the first time with her rumored beau Matty Healy, 34, arriving to her condo at 12:30AM on Sunday following her second performance in Nashville.

They sat beside each other in the back of their chauffeured vehicle, where Matty still wore the same bracelet he sported earlier that evening while attending her concert. 

The new romance comes less than a month after Taylor split from her boyfriend of six years, actor Joe Alwyn.  

Many Swifties — her loyal and eagle-eyed fans — claimed that some of the songwriter’s besties and inner circle reportedly broke ties on Instagram just shortly after being spotted hanging out with the star and perhaps learning what really happened.

The bold moves on social media appeared to suggest that there may be more to the breakup than the public is aware of.

Just after catching up over dinner with longtime friends Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, for instance, the Deadpool actor allegedly immediately unfollowed Alwyn.

The obvious snub was a shocking move considering Ryan had previously gushed about the British actor and their six-year-long friendship in a TIME100 Next article published in September 2022. (His wife does not currently follow Alwyn.)

The Sun reported on Thursday that the rumored couple had plans to confirm the romance over the weekend during her Nashville stop.

On Saturday, Matty strummed on his guitar as he made an appearance with Taylor’s supporting act during the show. Whether he will hop onto the stage once again to perform with the Blank Space hitmaker has yet to seen.

Taylor and Matty’s rumored romance first came to light earlier this week on Wednesday, with a separate source telling The Sun, ‘She and Matty are madly in love.’

‘It’s super-early days, but it feels right. They first dated, very briefly, almost ten years ago but timings just didn’t work out,’ the insider added.

In regards to her ex, the source informed the publication, ‘Taylor and Joe actually split up back in February, so there was absolutely no crossover.’

‘Both Matty and Taylor have been touring over the past few weeks, so it’s been a lot of Face-Timing and texting but she cannot wait to see him again,’ and added that the two stars, ‘are incredibly supportive of their respective careers.’

‘They are both massively proud and excited about this relationship and, unlike Taylor’s last one — which was very much kept out of the spotlight, deliberately — she wants to ‘own’ this romance, and not hide it away.’

While Taylor focuses on her Eras Tour, which is slated to conclude later this year in August, Matty is also in the middle of touring with his band, The 1975.

Before making a surprise appearance to join the opening act, the Robbers musician was seen making a quick Starbucks run after reportedly spending time at Taylor’s Nashville condo earlier Friday night.

As the British-born singer exited the popular coffee shop chain on Saturday, he carried a warm drink in his hand while also looking through his smartphone as he was led by a security guard to a sleek, white SUV parked near the coffee shop.

After grabbing a drink to get a boost of energy, Healy was later seen arriving at Nissan Stadium in the heart of Nashville ahead of Taylor’s Saturday night performance in the city.

Earlier on Friday, he was seen dancing along to Swift as she sang her hit track, Shake It Off, amongst fellow concert-goers in a secured area on the floor section of the venue.

The video was posted on Twitter and quickly went viral amid rumors that Matty and Taylor have started a budding romance.

Despite the speculation that the two have entered a relationship, both singers have yet to publicly confirm they are dating.