Justice Gita Mittal of the Delhi High Court said, “There is no law which can deprive a mother of her child because of AIDS,” in a case where a woman’s in-laws tried to deprive her of the custody of her child after the death of her husband.

The woman, Sunita Verma, had apparently contracted the virus before her marriage. Not too surprisingly, her in-laws, Ram Gopal Verma and his wife Phoolwati, decided to say that she should not be given custody of the child because she was of ‘bad character’ and would have bad influence on the child.

The Court does not appear to have said that that fact was immaterial. It merely pointed out that the virus could be transmitted by a blood transfusion.

I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if it had been irrefutably proved that the woman had been involved in a pre-marital relationship.

Sunita Verma is, however, scheduled to have the custody her child handed over her.

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/HIV-mother-cant-be-deprived-custody-of-child/305198/