Police spreads AIDS stigma

[Guest guest]

Women fights AIDS taint, SHO spreads smear

The Indian Express March 5, 2002 - C. Shamsher

Kotla Nihangsinghwala (ROPAR), March 4: if you listen to the man who heads the

police station under which Swaran Kaur's village falls, you will know why she

may never get justice. " There is nothing to investigate. She is a characterless

women, " says SHO Balwant Singh.

The inquiry by the sub-divisional magistrate into who branded Swaran an 'AIDS

patient' and 'a characterless woman' on the basis of a forged letter is still

not complete, but SHO Singh's mind is made. Not only that he is parroting what

the alleged culprit, who the police are expected to book and arrest, had written

in his letter.

Since that day, three months ago, Swaran Kaur and her family have been

ostracised by the villagers, who were made to believe that AIDS spreads even

through the touch of an infected person. For ration and milk, the family has to

go outside the village, to Paprala. Swaran's son Bhagat still remains unemployed

because people think his mother has AIDS.

Swaran's woes began when village sarpanch Sukhwinder Singh Whiskey claimed he

had received a letter from a PGI doctor Prof R.W. Minz stating that Swaran is an

AIDS patient and a 'characterless' woman. After Prof Minz denied it, through

PGI, Chandigarh, the SSP Ropar and SSP Chandigarh were requested to file an FIR

and register a case of forgery.

But SHO Balwant Singh is not waiting for any inquiry report before giving his

verdict. " Swaran has been already booked once under Section 109 of the CrPC (for

allegedly roaming under suspicious circumstances) with her brother-in-law

Kuldeep. There's nothing to pursue in the matter, " he says. Ask him about the

treatment being meted out to the family and he says: " I spoke to her husband. He

says everything is fine. They have no complaints. "

On the other hand, for the family, things have only gone from bad to worse,

while the shocked Swaran herself has become almost a vegetable. " She sits here

like this all day, with her head drooping and her arms folded, " laments husband

Jaspal Singh. The only time she goes out is when a visit is due to the

Psychiatry Department at PGI.

Jaspal adds that the family continues to be ostracised. " No one has visited our

house after the SDM came with a few policemen a month ago. Even our neighbours

and relatives have not come here since. " Swaran's brother-in-law Kuldeep also

counters police claims. " It's true that Swaran and I were arrested, but that was

done deliberately to create a wrong impression of her character in the court

which was trying the rape case filed by her. "

Ask SP (Headquarters) Ropar, Dharam Singh, about SHO Singh's remarks and he

assures you that all is fine. " You should not bother about the investigation, "

the SP says. " Everything will be fair. Right now, the SHO has nothing to do with

the case. " He adds an FIR will be registered only after the inquiry conducted by

the SDM is complete and " after the deputy commissioner is convinced about

registering a case " .

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Dr.Jagdish Harsh ( jharsh@... )

Director of Administration and Operations

François-Xavier Bagnoud (INDIA) ( www.fxb.org )

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