Maduri: To marry, get 'no HIV' certificate

[Guest guest]

To marry, get 'no HIV' certificate

MADURAI: It is not unusual for enlightened young women in Tamil Nadu to insist

on their grooms being screened for HIV before marriage. But a wedding hall in

Chinnamanur in Theni district has gone a step further. It insists that all

brides and grooms solemnizing their

marriage in the hall get a ‘no HIV' certificate first.

The hall's unusual condition came under spotlight when a 25-year-old

autorickshaw driver, Selvam, was spurned by his fiance on the eve of their

wedding on Thursday after she came to know that he had tested positive for HIV.

Selvam was surprised when he was informed that he and h is bride-to-be had to

undergo a HIV test before conducting their marriage at the Maravar Makkal

Manram. The young man was in for a further shock when he tested positive for HIV

at the Theni government hospital.

Selvam hails from the same Chinnamanur village and a bride was chosen for him

from Allinagaram in Theni. Their marriage was to take place at the Maravar

Makkal Mandram on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the management of the hall, however, told the parents

of both the bride and the groom that they had to abide by certain conditions if

the wedding was to take place in their hall.

The two parties agreed and Selvam and his bride underwent the necessary medical

tests at the Theni government hospital. When they got the results the same

evening, Selvam came to know that he had tested positive for HIV.

When the parents of the bride were informed about the results, they stopped the

wedding and thanked the hall managers and left for home.

E Muthu, member of the managing board of the marriage hall and also the state

organizer of the Muvender Munnetra Kazhagam, said they had taken the decision to

insist on HIV screening for couples about to be married as there were many women

in Chinnamanur and the surrounding villages who had lost their husbands to AIDS.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/TN_To_marry_get_no_HIV_certificate/art\

icleshow/3395013.cms

_________________________

Ravi Balakrishnan,

Shelter.