Doors shut, fate of HIV+ orphans grim

Ahmedabad: Two HIV-positive brothers from Gandhidham town in Gujarat's Kutch district are in a quandary after the orphanage they were living in removed them after finding out about their infection.

The boys – aged six and nine years, were told by authorities that they could not continue to stay in the Arya Samaj-run hostel where they had lived for the past four months. They are now living with a distant relative, Umashankar Pande, a counsellor handling HIV patients, told PTI.

"The boys are like orphans because their mother is dead and their father is mentally unstable. Their uncle said he cannot take care of them and got them admitted to the hostel. However they were frequently ill and a blood test showed they are HIV-positive," said Pande, who heads the Kutch network for HIV-positive people.

The two boys were admitted to the hostel in June and were studying in two different private schools, he said.

Pande said they had tried counseling the hostel authorities and the boys' uncle but nobody wished to keep the boys in their custody.

"As of now, we have kept them at a distant relative's place. We hope to come up with a solution regarding their accommodation and future support after Diwali," Pande said.

When contacted, the head of the Arya Samaj hostel, Vachobhai Nidhi, said, "It is very unfortunate that we had to remove them from the company of other children in the hostel. Though we feel strongly for them, we cannot keep them in the company of normal children as it will not be appropriate."

Nidhi said he was not informed by the boys' uncle of their HIV status and it was only by chance that the hostel authorities had come to know of it.

"It is easy to criticise what we have done but what many do not understand is that keeping HIV-positive children means taking care of their medication. This is the objective of the organisation and they need to be at a specialised care centre," he said.

Nidhi also said the hostel administration had in the past taken a similar step with five other HIV-positive children.

According to the Pande, there are at least 450 HIV-positive people in Kutch district, who are connected to support groups for counseling.

India has recently reported to international organisations over 6.78 million cases of HIV-positive and people living with AIDS.