Can’t a HIV positive woman look after her own child? Is it fair to deprive a mother of her natural right? A 27-year-old widow who contracted the infection from her late husband seeks answers to these questions.

She has been thrown out of the house and deprived of the custody of her nine-year-old daughter. Her in-laws allege, as she is HIV positive, she can’t take care of the child and hence, the girl should stay with the grandparents.

Munia (name changed) was married to an army man in 1995. She contracted HIV from her husband, who died of AIDS at his place of posting in Assam and she came to stay with her in-laws in Rajasthan.

Speaking to the media on Thursday, she said she was thrown out of the house when she refused to part with more money to her elder brother-in-law to buy some land in May 2006. The amount of Rs 4 lakh that she received as compensation after her husband’s death had been already spent by her in-laws. They also refused to send her daughter with her.

She also complained of subtle discrimination in her in-laws’ home. She alleged that her in-laws assaulted her physically when she visited them last November to claim custody of her daughter, driving her to lodge an FIR against them.

She appealed to the ADJ Court in Behror, Alwar district, for interim relief, which was rejected. The court was of the opinion that since she was HIV positive, she could not look after her child properly. She has now moved an appeal under the Protection Against Atrocities Act in the Additional Civil Court, Jaipur.