Uttar Pradesh: Ostracised AIDS couple plea for euthanasia

[Guest guest]

Ostracised AIDS couple plea for euthanasia

12 Aug 2007, 1820 hrs IST , REUTERS

RAMGARH: An Indian couple suffering from AIDS has asked the country's

president to allow them and their daughter to die through euthanasia

as they were being harassed in their village.

Vijayshankar Pandey, who lives in Uttar Pradesh, sought the

president's permission on Saturday. In the appeal he said that he was

fed up with local villagers beating them frequently and police not

acting on their complaints.

Euthanasia or mercy killing is banned in India. " We are tired of

going to (the) administration ... That's why we have sent a plea to

the president to grant the entire family euthanasia, " Pandey, who has

sold a quarter of his farmland for treatment, said.

" We are tired because of the deadly disease and atrocities of the

villagers. They enter our house and beat us and want to throw us out

of our house, " he added.

Local police said that they were looking into the matter. India has

around 2.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS -- the world's third

highest caseload after South Africa and Nigeria -- about 40 percent

of them women.

Discrimination against AIDS victims in predominantly rural India is

on the rise, families often disown HIV positive members and children

with HIV/AIDS are frequently thrown out of schools.

AIDS activists say lack of awareness and widespread stigma and

discrimination have contributed to paranoia about the virus, although

the country reported its first case over 20 years ago.

India's federal government is mulling legislation to protect victims

of HIV

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Ostracised_AIDS_couple_plead_

for_euthanasia/rssarticleshow/2275585.cms