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Once
shunned, she now educates people about AIDS
Wednesday December 01, 2010 07:27:38 PM ,
Pradipta Tapadar, IANS
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Kolkata: Her husband
died just two years after marriage and the young 22-year-old found
that he had transmitted the HIV virus to her. It was the beginning
of a lone battle against the stigma attached to AIDS for Farzana
Begum, who has now dedicated her life to educating society about
the disease.
The naive, romantic Farzana was married off in 1998. However, she
did not have the remotest idea that her husband was carrying the
deadly HIV virus.
It was only two days before her husband's death in 2000 that she
came to know that he was suffering from AIDS and had transmitted
the virus to her.
"At the time of marriage, my in-laws had kept my husband's HIV
positive status a secret. I came to know about his disease just
two days before his death. I got to know that he had transmitted
the virus to me. I was totally shattered and clueless about what
to do," Farzana told IANS.
Her ordeals snowballed. Farzana's in-laws accused her of
transmitting the HIV virus to her husband and treated her as an
untouchable. They even threw her out of her husband's house and
denied her access to his property.
Farzana, now 32, decided to fight the lone battle against the
injustice.
"My in-laws treated me as an untouchable. They abused me and even
forced me to leave my husband's house. They sold my husband's
property without my consent," she said.
"I hired a lawyer and a case is on right now. Now, I am staying at
my husband's house," she said.
In 2002, Farzana enrolled herself at the Kolkata Network of People
Living with HIV and AIDS (KNP), an NGO which not only supported
her in battling the deadly disease but also encouraged her to live
life with a new vigour.
"During my association with KNP I earned some money after working
in some of the programmes conducted by them in collaboration with
government agencies. My parents also support me financially," she
said.
"I have dedicated my life to spreading awareness about HIV/AIDS
and the modes of transmission of the disease and measures to
prevent it. My life has been ruined but I don't want anyone else
to suffer because of the disease," said an emotional Farzana.
She now works as a volunteer with the Bengal Network of People
Living with HIV/AIDS (BNPL), an NGO based in Kolkata, hoping to
make a difference to the lives of the 3.1 million people living
with HIV/AIDS in the country.
(Pradipta
Tapadar can be contacted at pradipta.t@ians.in)
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