Why sarpanch calls her an AIDS patient when she isn't

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Dear Forum members,

It seems the Indian express reporters needs some AIDS education as they think "

AIDS, a disease so deadly it could spread by mere touch " !!.[Moderator]

Why sarpanch calls her an AIDS patient when she isn't

The Indian Express 7th February, 2002-New Delhi

TWO months ago, it was announced to Kotla Nihangsinghwals village in Ropar

district, Punjab, that Swaran Kaur was suffering from AIDS, a disease so deadly

it could spread by mere touch.

The village's response was swift and drastic: overnight, Swaran Kaur and her

family members found they couldn't buy milk or rations from any shop in the

village, or even use the village water any more. Nobody from the 38-year-old's

family can visit anybody else, and nobody visits them. But there's a tragic

twist to this disturbing story: Swaran Kaur is not suffering from AIDS.

The villain of the piece is a forged letter allegedly sent to sarpanch

Sukhwinder Singh Whiskey, from an associate professor of the Department of

Immunopathology at PGI in Chandigarh. The letter -- which has since been denied

-- stated that Swaran Kaur was woman of " questionable morals " and was suffering

from AIDS. The letters were reportedly distributed throughout the village, which

has around 2,000 residents.

Dr. R W Minz, associate professor at the PGI department in whose name the letter

was sent, has written to the PGI director that the letter using her name and

credentials is a fake.

Deputy Commissioner of the area G D Grewal also told The Indian Express he has

ordered an inquiry into the boycott, and a case of forgery would soon be

registered. A team led by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate Visited the village

today.

Swaran Kaur's family alleges that the letter is the sarpanch's revenge against

her for case she had filed in 1997, accusing three persons known to the sarpanch

of raping her. According to her son Bhagat, his mother was lured with the

promise of a job to Chandigarh five years ago. Instead, she was raped by three

men, said her son. Swaran Kaur then lodged an FIR at Sector 17 police station in

Chandigarh.

" The sarpanch wanted her to withdraw her complaint, " added Swaran Kaur's

brother-in-law, Kuldeep Singh. " After all his pressure failed to work, he

resorted to this dirty trick of distributing letters. "

And the official action and reaction may have come a bit too late for the

family. Swaran Kaur's husband Jaspal Singh, who is paralysed, said: " I can't

even get my medicines from the local dispensary any more. I have to go all the

way to Ropar. "

" Nobody wants to come near us, " added son Bhagat, who worked as a truck driver

until his employer sacked him because of the letter. " For the last two months,

I've been sitting at home. You are the first people who have come to meet us

ever since. "

Sukhwinder Singh Whiskey denied the boycott as well as the allegations. " I have

photostat copies of the letter sent by the PGI associate professor. Initially, I

tried to help the family since I thought it would bring the village a bad name. "

Though he was told that the professor had debunked the letter as a fake, he

stuck to his claim. The sarpanch even denied that Swaran Kaur and her family

were being boycotted. And he said he didn't know of any rape complaint. " There

is no truth in the allegation that I'm involved in the case. If anyone's

involved, it's the ones who've sent the letter or the ones whom the letter talks

about, " he stated.

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