Ranchi jail refuses to take HIV-positive man

January 29, 2003

Indo-Asian News ServiceRanchi, January 21

A prison in this Jharkhand capital has refused to take in a suspected

Maoist guerrilla because he is HIV-positive.Ramnath Yadav, a 26-year-

old suspected of being a member of the banned People's War Group

(PWG), was not taken back in prison when he was discharged from the

Ranchi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), where he was treated for

hepatitis and diagnosed as carrying HIV.Doctors attending Yadav

suggested that he be shifted to a hospital with HIV treatment

facilities.

The policemen escorting the under-trial prisoner took him back to

Ranchi jail. But the jail doctors refused to allow him in. " How can we

take him back in jail if he has HIV? Do you know what HIV is? It's

deadly and contagious and other prisoners could be affected, " a jail

official told IANS, requesting anonymity. Yadav, who claims he is not

linked to any Maoist guerrilla outfit, reportedly maintains he

sustained bullet injuries in August last year in his home district

Latehar when some rebels attacked him.

He was admitted to another hospital in Ranchi and he suspects he

contracted HIV while undergoing treatment there. " The doctors might

have injected HIV-infected blood in me, " Yadav was quoted as telling

the police.Yadav, who has been charged under the tough Prevention of

Terrorism Act (POTA), claims the police have mistaken him for another

man by the same name. " The police was searching for another Ramnath

Yadav of the same district who is associated with the PWG, " said

Yadav.

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