A life-saving judgement

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Woman Living with HIV Wins Legal Battle for Property Ownership

(Report adapted and translated from news story titled “Aaini Juddhe Sampati

Uddhar HIV Tarunirâ€, written by Soma Mukhopadhyay, published in Ananda Bazar

Patrika, Kolkata, December 10, 2009)

 

After the death of her HIV positive husband, Sampa Das (name changed), a

resident of Asansol, West Bengal was totally isolated by her husband’s family.

After years of struggle, in the month of November 2009, just three hearings

later, Sampa was restored access to her late husband’s property, thanks to

speedy delivery of justice by the Calcutta High Court.

 

Sampa, too, is HIV positive. When this information got around, her in-laws

clearly stated that they would not give her any share in her husband’s

property. They did not stop there. A lot of mental and emotional torture and

humiliation followed along with efforts to deprive her of her rights. But she

went ahead and under the Domestic Violence Act sued her in-laws at the Court of

the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Burdwan.

 

Despite an order being passed in her favour, her three brothers-in-law continued

their ill-treatment and appealed to the High Court at Calcutta. But to their

surprise, Justice Shankar Prasad Mitra did not prolong the matter beyond

absolute necessity. Defending herself and her two children, Sampa’s battle at

the High Court at Calcutta ended in merely three hearings. The High Court passed

an order entitling her to her late husband’s share of the property, which is

one-fifth of the total property amounting to around Rs.50 lakh.

 

There is no dearth of money in the AIDS sector, nor is there a dearth of NGOs.

However, primary and preventive information and awareness about this disease is

still lacking in the masses, and this is highly evident in Sampa’s case. Most

people aren’t even aware that being HIV positive does not mean one has AIDS.

There are many such instances like Sampa’s in our state. The fear and

misunderstandings surrounding the disease has reached a point where even people

like Sampa are scared to reveal their real name. Her fear is that her mother and

her children will be affected adversely if she does reveal her name.

 

HIV positive people suffer both socially and financially. At times they don’t

even get treatment, or get chased out of their schools, colleges or jobs. There

are many people like Sampa who are deprived of their rights over their or their

spouse’s property. The order passed by the High Court at Calcutta in Sampa’s

case shall add new vigour to such causes. Her lawyer, Advocate Chandan Ghosh,

says that, “Medical expenses apart, it was getting difficult even to feed

herself and her two children. It would have been impossible for her to even

carry on the case by herself. The speedy expediting of this case shall remain a

landmark in our judicial history. A lot of people suffering from similar

problems shall get hope from this decision.â€

 

The Project Director of West Bengal State AIDS Prevention & Control Society,

ta Sen, said, “Every month, when we have our conferences regarding

positive people, we keep on getting to hear of such atrocities. However, this is

the first time such an order has come to our notice.

 

Sampa’s brother-in-laws stated that they had never refused to give her, her

rightful share and whatever happened was merely a œmisunderstanding.

 

Sampa’s husband died in November 2006. He was a co-owner, along with his

brothers, of a transportation business. He died within three months of being

diagnosed as HIV positive. After her blood was tested, Sampa was also diagnosed

as HIV positive. Right after that, allegedly, her in-laws started trying to

deprive her of her rights over her husband’s property. However, she did not

give up.

With a four-year-old son and a seven-year-old daughter, she started battling for

her rights. She was supported by the Burdwan Society of People Living with

HIV/AIDS (BSP+), a district level network and member of a state wide civil

society collective called the Coalition of Rights Based Groups (CRBG).

 

BSP+ put Sampa in touch with Solidarity and Action Against The HIV Infection in

India (SAATHII), also a member and current Secretariat of CRBG. SAATHII runs

legal aid units in Kolkata and Bhubaneswar for people living with HIV, sexual

minorities and other marginalized communities, and approached Advocate Chandan

Ghosh, a member of the unit’s referral panel. The unit provided psycho-social,

financial and coordination support to Sampa, and is also in the process of

detailed documentation of her case. They are also providing follow up support to

Sampa, to ensure implementation of the court order and to help her plan next

steps.

 

SAATHII and CRBG are supported by Interact Worldwide, London and the Department

for International Development – Civil Society Challenge Fund, Glasgow in their

work.

 

SAATHII’s Documentation and Library Officer, Soma Roy Karmakar said, “Such

instances of property deprivation are very common amongst HIV positive women.

However, in most cases, one has to wait unendingly in order to get justice.

Sampa’s victory has given us a new taste of victory!â€

 

Indeed, the SAATHII team salutes Sampa’s fighting spirit, Advocate Chandan

Ghosh for his skillful handling of the case, and Calcutta High Court for

ensuring that justice would not be delayed or denied!

----------------------------------------------------

Translation, adaptation, editing: Debjyoti Ghosh, Soma Roy Karmakar, Pawan

Dhall, Members, SAATHII, Kolkata Office, Legal Aid Unit

SAATHII Contact:

General enquiries: 033 2484 5002; saathii@...

SAATHII Helpline (Kolkata): 033 2484 4841, Mon, Wed, Fri, 12-5 pm;

saathiihelpline@...

SAATHII Helpline (Bhubaneswar): 0674 657 1222, Mon, Wed, Fri, 12-5 pm

 

Thanks.

Soma Roy Karmakar 

Documentation and Library Officer, West Bengal

Solidarity and Action Against The HIV Infection in India (SAATHII), Kolkata

Office

229, Kalitala Main Road, Purbachal (North)

Kolkata 700 078, West Bengal, India

91 98307 19020 (Mobile)

saathii@...  / somaroykarmakar@...

www.saathii.org