SARLAHI: A family planning camp held in Malangawa by District Public Health Office, Sarlahi, saw an unprecedented surge of Muslim women seeking the laparoscopic surgery (minilap).

According to Sita Bhatta, a health worker, the Muslim women, who used to keep their identity secret in the past, have openly recorded their name at the camp.

Nehana Khatun of Aurahi VDC-6 said, “We need to change our traditional practices along with the changing times.” She has already given birth to two children.

Among 870 women receiving the service, 40 were Muslim women. In the camp, Kuraisa Khatun, 30, mother of six daughters and two sons, and Bibaha Devi Jha, 40, mother of seven children, had the minilap surgery.