Socio-Economic Impact of HIV and AIDS in Tamil nadu

Annexure II
Box 1
Case study 1: Tamil Nadu: Lend a helping hand
This is the story of a family in Trichy
in Tamil Nadu. Mr. X married Miss X
about 11 years ago when she was a
girl of about 17 years. Mr. X had many
relationships with women before
marriage, and marriage did not deter
him from continuing to have relations
with other women. The couple had
two daughters. Eventually, Mr. X’s
continued relationships with other
women became the cause of Mrs. X’s
separation from her husband. Mrs. X
got employment as a quality control
checker, earning Rs. 400 p.m. in a
textile mill in her native town, with her
daughters studying in a government
school there. About three years ago,
the couple decided to reunite: Mrs.
X gave up her job, the children, their
schooling, and all three returned to Mr.
X’s place – Manaparai. Although Mrs.
X and her daughters are interested in
education, it has been discontinued
since Mr. X is of the opinion that
there is nothing much to be gained in
educating women.
Meanwhile, the elder daughter used to
get continuous fever, cough and cold
and had to get a blood test last year.
She was found to be HIV-positive and
affected by TB. Later, after tests, it
was found that both Mr. and Mrs. X
are HIV-positive. The younger daughter
has not yet been tested.
Mr. X, the only earner in the family,
earns about Rs. 300 per day but
spends it all on gambling, wine, and
women claiming that he’s addicted to
liquor out of depression as he wants
to forget the family’s difficulties and
drown his sorrows. He also beats
them in a drunken state. He gives
very little money to his wife for
household necessities. The family
has absolutely no assets: they live in
a one room rented accommodation,
cook on a kerosene stove, and appear
undernourished. The parents of both
Mr. and Mrs. X who are aware of their
children’s HIV-positive status have
forsaken them. Their neighbours seem
to be unaware of their health status.
The family had already borrowed
money from all sources possible when
the elder daughter was unwell and
needed to be hospitalised.
Although this appears to be the
common story of all women in
the lower income group in society
who are burdened with family
problems and get no help from their
husbands and are instead abused
by them, the situation of Mrs. X
is a little worse than that of other
women from her income group: she
Annexures
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