Kuppam Case-What is the reality?

[Guest guest]

Hi,

It has been deeply disturbing and a matter of serious concern to see the

contradictory reports being published related to Ponnamma’s case (Kuppam,

Chittor Dist, and Andhra Pradesh). As an activist working with victims of

commercial sexual exploitation for more than one decade dealing with abandoned

dead bodies of AIDS victim is perhaps an everyday reality for us. Therefore the

informations projected in the last few days are deeply concerning as somewhere

things do not match up.

For the last year and a half my organisation was also the nodal agency for the

HIV counseling project and incidentally I have a counselor placed in Kuppam Area

Hospital (Just last month we have handed over the project to another agency). So

we on our end also made our enquiries from very reliable sources in the

community to ascertain the validity of the story. Here are some of the facts

that came to light:

From the time Ponnamma has been found HIV positive it is her mother’s family

that was looking after her and her HIV +ve child as against many families who

take no responsibility for their infected kith and kin (we have come across

hundreds of cases of family rejection).

In the last one fortnight of Ponnamma’s life she was suffering from multiple

opportunistic infections (bleeding, uncontrolled diarrohea, skin eruptions, oral

thrush etc) which in any middle class family also is difficult to handle by one

aging person. It was Ponnamma’s mother who was her home nurse during this whole

period. This work she has been doing over and above her daily struggle to

survive (she is vendor) and look after the little girl.

In the last one week before the death the smell and stench near the sick person

was so high that it was impossible for any other person to live in the same

place (ageing mother, little child and a brother). Therefore instead of

abandoning the sick in a Government Hospital (which again happens many a

times-in one case we had the mother abandoning her newly born HIV positive child

in the hospital and absconding) the mother and brother constructed a temporary

shelter outside the house to keep Ponnamma.She died three days later.

In the meantime unable to bear the pain and trauma that his sister was subjected

to, the brother has been going to the local government hospital to request the

Superintendent for some medical care. In an unprecedented move and a rare

gesture of humanity the Superintendent has send the lab technician to go to the

house and draw blood to do some test. Due to the frailness of the victim

(usually full blown AIDS cases lose a lot of weight and are quarter their

original size) the technician found it difficult to draw the sample but finally

managed to do so.

On the day the victim died apart from no movements at all or no evidence of

breathing the stench around the body was apparently unbearable. It is usually

unheard in villages that families take dead bodies for a death certificate. So

the family’s greatest concern was to give the last rites at the earliest

(probably their experience with their own relations was not close enough for

them to wait for anybody to come for the funeral)

The child is still looked after by the grand mother.

All this above facts for me as a person in the field is a phenomenal example of

community-based care and support of HIV positive people. In these times of acute

stigma and discrimination which awareness programs cannot overnight wipe out it

is a great example of family bonding.I have dealt with horrendous cases of

mother abandoning her own baby, wives their husbands, families their children so

many times in the last three years. Every such incident used to make me question

blood ties. And here is a case that gives me immense hope that community based

care could still be a reality.

But in all these 'hungama' I wonder whether anybody has even thought what the

mother and brother are going through. For all the care and support they gave

within the realities of their existence, in return they have have been accused

of murder, torture to death, burnt alive!

This incident also makes me wonder why the groups who created the rumours in the

first place and those credible institutions that addressed the issue made a case

of something that was never true. Is their something that is much more than

obvious? Does the fact that Kuppam happens to be the Honourable CM’s

constituency have anything to do with these exaggerated sensations. What is the

accountability of the media to the civil society when it writes a story without

verifying facts?

Last night my counselor called up to find out whether we can take the HIV

positive child of late Ponnamma in our HIV home for children. Surprised that the

grand mother wanted to give away the child I asked my counselor what had

happened. Apparently the grandmother feels scared to look after the child now,

as she feels she may be accused of murdering the child next!

WHAT HAVE WE DONE?

Dr Sunitha Krishnan

General Secretary

Prajwala

Email-sunitha_2002@...

[Guest guest]

GROUP:

While I agree with Meera about the possible cover up, please let us treat

Each other with respect and dignity...we must agree to learn to disagree with

grace, compassion and empathy. If not we shall fall prey to the syndrome, the

Mechanism of, " divide and conquer " . Which is totally counter-productive.

To Paraphrase the words of, Weldon , “let us march on until

victory is Won " . I'm not even going to get into, woody guthrie's, " which side

are you on? " Enough said! Ok?

Surendra

E-mail: surendra@...

[Guest guest]

Dear FORUM,

I am new to this group and this is my first post. To begin with I must

appreciate the moderator and the members who make this group so lively with

vivid discussions.

I have been tracking the mails on Kuppam case. To begin with, I would like to

echo my thoughts with those of Surendra '...we must agree to learn to

disagree...' Over the time I feel the focus of discussion is shifting from issue

to incidence. Most of us may never know the truth behind the story.

Without undermining the importance of knowing the truth behind such incidences,

I would say, lets look at the broader issues - Gender discrimination, Taboo and

fear factor that were responsible for culminating into such incidence. And

before pointing fingers on each other, we all should go for some introspection.

Where and when by our words, by acts of commsission or omission, by acceptance

or denial we helped these practices to perpetuate. Why should we keep disowning

the responsibility because we simply were not assigned this responsibility?

Something all of us have failed to do, which might have prevented this.

Whatever the sector, and whatever the field of work, we can and should

contribute to the cause. The 'story' (fact or fiction) is an eye-opener and

should make us aware of the possible areas where we can work on.

Let us fix the problem and not the blame.

Finally I would beg to differ from the member who says " India's honour is at

stake.. " India is a country of rich cultural heritage that has tought so many

things to the outside world. Everything in the house may not be perfect but then

we have at least admitted that in an open forum.

Vineet

Vineet Bhatia

Consultant - TB

533 'C'wing, Nirman Bhavan

Delhi - 110011

e-MAIL: bhatiav@...

[Guest guest]

Dear Colleagues:

As one of many who supported WINS and other folks who reported this

stoning, I would like to hear back from R.Meera about whether indeed

this was a " figment of one's imagination. " I think that if indeed

this is true, then Rajeev Sadanandan's field report does raise very

very important points. Even if it is still true--(he leaves open the

issue of deliberate neglect)--the questions of poverty/litigation and

social scapegoating (of family) are terribly important ones.

At the same time, knowing a bit of how fiction and politics and

corruption are such common matters in Indian life, I think we should

wait for more information. Given the international attention this

case has received, given that this is the CM's constituency, is it

plausible that there could be a cover up? I think it is vital, then,

that R. Meera and other colleagues respond to this very serious

charge of fiction!

As someone who does research on the brutal feudal realities of daily

life for many many Indian women, I remain profoundly skeptical about

things changing for women who are particularly vulnerable because of

AIDS. If indeed this case is utterly untrue, I think we should STILL

be very cautious about generalizations regarding the great strides

that have been made in terms of the stigma, ostracism and neglect

that are experienced by Indian women living with AIDS and PWLA, in

general.

Sincerely,

Piya Chatterjee

Associate Professor

Department of women's Studies

University of California at Riverside

E-mail: piyachatterjee@...