A widow in an eastern Indian village, Darbhanga (Bihar) was not able to cremate her husband’s body for three days, as locals rebuffed to lend helping hand and participate in her husband’s cremation rituals, for fear of contracting AIDS from the dead man.



The poor widow, Asha Devi, finally collected branches and other scraps and attempted a backyard cremation of her husband that left the body only partially charred.



In spite of a national campaign that encourages Indians to ‘Fear HIV, not the HIV patients’, that is about AIDS, Shailendra was ostracized by his village in Bihar, India’s poorest state, during his illness and even after his death.



Despite the good news, that south chart of Aids affected has shown a dip, there’s little room for gratification. I think Aids awareness has to be pushed through with much more greater vigour.



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