The woman who was transfused with HIV infected blood last year in Tamil Nadu is now alleging that her husband is not allowing her to meet her eldest child because she is HIV positive. The woman, who was pregnant then, had been given HIV infected blood at a government hospital in Virudhunagar district.
The issue came to light when the woman appeared before Justices N Kirubakaran and SS Sundar of the Madurai bench of Madras High Court on Monday. She told the judges that her husband did not allow her to meet her eldest child since she contracted the virus, causing her mental agony. Noting this, the judges ordered that sufficient counselling be given to her husband to address this issue.
The judges added that the woman has to be provided with own house and a government job as per her educational qualification. Her compensation must be deposited in a bank and arrangements must be made to enable her to live off the interest that the deposit generates. The judges also ordered the woman’s husband and their eldest child to appear in the court on March 27 for the next hearing.
This happened when the court was hearing a petition filed by Appasamy and Muthukumar from Madurai demanding that the state government fill up the vacancies in the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society (TANSACS) and grant proper treatment and compensation to the woman who was infected by the wrongful blood transfusion.
The petition also wanted the court to order the government to be careful with blood transfusions and ensure that such processes are carried out in a sterile environment with sterile equipment. The judges, in an earlier hearing, had ordered the affected woman to appear before them in private on Monday.
The woman was infected with HIV last December. The incident sparked substantial outrage in Tamil Nadu, compelling a government inquiry into the matter. The woman who was infected gave birth to a girl child in January. Recently, an HIV test was conducted on the baby and it returned clear.