Gujarat Woman Alleges Sexual Abuse By HIV+ Husband, Seeks Help From 181 Helpline
Last Updated:
The woman, who has been married for over 10 years now and has a 8-year-old child, told counsellors that her husband had been forcing her into sexual relations despite having HIV.
In a troubling case from Gujarat, a woman in Ahmedabad has reached out to the state's 'Abhayam 181' women's helpline, alleging relentless physical and mental abuse by her husband. According to her, her husband turned violent and coercive towards her after being diagnosed HIV positive two years ago.
The woman, who has been married for over 10 years now and is the mother of an 8-year-old child, told counsellors that her husband had been forcing her into sexual relations despite having HIV. She alleged that each time she resisted, she was beaten and threatened with being thrown out of the house.
According to her statement, the situation deteriorated after her husband's HIV diagnosis. She claims he began exhibiting erratic behaviour, sank into drug addiction, and became increasingly abusive. When she tried to warn him that another pregnancy could pose serious health risks to them and the child, he dismissed her concerns with threats and aggression.
Abhayam 181 is a helpline launched by the Gujarat government to support women in distress.
Recounting the woman's ordeal, a counsellor from the Abhayam service said that the woman had supported her husband through his illness, hoping their family would remain intact. But when he attempted to force her out of the house, she feared for her and her child's safety and reached out to the helpline.
The counselling team facilitated a session with both the woman and her husband, during which they educated the couple about the legal rights of women, the importance of consent in marital relationships, and the consequences of abuse. While the woman has chosen not to file a formal police complaint for now, she has been assured that legal recourse remains open should the harassment continue.
In what appears to be a temporary resolution, the husband reportedly acknowledged his actions and promised to change. However, experts caution that without sustained support or legal intervention, such cases often risk relapse into patterns of abuse.
Watch India Pakistan Breaking News on CNN-News18. Get breaking news, in-depth analysis, and expert perspectives on everything from politics to crime and society. Stay informed with the latest India news only on News18. Download the News18 App to stay updated!
First Published:
May 29, 2025, 20:53 IST
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
6 hours ago
- Time of India
US government pulls plug on programs critical to HIV vaccine studies: What does that mean
In a move that's raising a lot of eyebrows in the health world, the Trump administration just pulled the plug on a major HIV vaccine research program. We're talking about a $258 million initiative that played a key role in finding a potential vaccine for HIV—gone. And it doesn't stop there. This is just the latest in a string of cuts that have hit HIV prevention and treatment efforts pretty hard, both in the U.S. and around the world. Public health experts aren't holding back—they're calling this a big step backward in the decades-long fight against HIV, the NY Times reported. So, what exactly happened? For starters, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) also hit the pause button on a clinical trial of an HIV vaccine developed by Moderna. Yep, that Moderna—the same company that helped bring us a COVID-19 vaccine in record time. "The cuts will shutter two major HIV vaccine research efforts that were first funded by the NIH in 2012 at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute and the Scripps Research Institute, multiple scientists said. A spokesperson for Moderna said the vaccine manufacturer's clinical trials through the NIH's HIV Vaccine Trials Network have also been put on pause," CBS News reported. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo And that's not all. The CDC's HIV prevention division? Shut down. This was the department that gave states and territories funding to help stop outbreaks and educate communities. Without it, many local programs are scrambling to figure out how to keep going. The timing of this decision The cancellation of the HIV funds comes weeks ahead of the US Food and Drug Administration's deadline (June 19) for deciding on approval of Gilead's lenacapavir, a twice-yearly injectable drug to prevent HIV. Recent clinical trials have demonstrated lenacapavir's remarkable efficacy. In the PURPOSE 1 trial involving cisgender women in sub-Saharan Africa, the drug achieved 100% efficacy in preventing HIV infections. Similarly, the PURPOSE 2 trial, which included cisgender men, transgender individuals, and gender-diverse people across multiple countries, reported a 96% reduction in HIV incidence compared to background rates. "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted its New Drug Application (NDA) submissions for lenacapavir—the company's twice-yearly injectable HIV-1 capsid inhibitor—for the prevention of HIV as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)," the pharma company had said in February 2025. So why does this matter? Because even though a lot of progress has been made, HIV is still a big issue in the U.S. According to the CDC's April 2024 report, the number of new HIV infections did go down by about 12% between 2018 and 2022—which is good news! But it is still seeing 31,800 new cases a year. That's not nothing. And here's a breakdown of where and who it's hitting the hardest: About 67% of those new infections were among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men. Around 22% of infections happened through heterosexual contact. The South is taking the biggest hit—nearly half (49%) of all new HIV cases in 2022 came from Southern states. So yes, it's still a serious public health issue, especially in communities that already struggle with access to health care. What worries experts most is that these cuts could completely unravel years—decades, even—of progress. One step to a healthier you—join Times Health+ Yoga and feel the change
Deccan Herald
6 hours ago
- Deccan Herald
Trump administration ends program critical to search for an HIV vaccine
The program's elimination is the latest in a series of cuts to HIV-related initiatives, and to prevention of the disease in particular. Separately, the NIH also paused funding for a clinical trial of an HIV vaccine made by Moderna.
Indian Express
9 hours ago
- Indian Express
Meet the Nightingales: From providing palliative care in remote villages to caring for colleagues during the pandemic, cancer patients
Leimapokpam Ranjita Devi and her husband used to routinely hop on a scooter at odd hours to provide palliative care to patients in remote Manipur villages. Banu M R cared for her sick colleagues in the NIMHANS hostel and guest house in Bengaluru to free up beds for patients with severe Covid-19 infection. As an oncology nurse, when the concept of palliative care was relatively unknown, Major-General Sheena P D has counselled numerous cancer patients and their families on accepting the diagnosis and getting treatment. The trio was among the 15 nurses, auxiliary nurse midwives and women health workers from across India who were conferred the Florence Nightingale Award by President Droupadi Murmu on Friday. Of these awardees, four each are from the North-East and union territories, and two from the national capital. Ranjita tells The Indian Express, 'One of my seniors asked me to apply for the award, but I barely had any photographs or videos that I was required to upload as part of my nomination. However, I got this award for training other nurses at the hospital.' Having spent most of her nearly 20-year career at the Imphal-based Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences, Ranjita has many feathers in her cap over the years — from providing palliative care and training nurses in the red zone (areas in the hospital with severely ill Covid-19 patients) to setting up the protocol for the kidney transplant team at the institute and being a part of the rapid action team established after violence erupted in Manipur in May 2023. 'Since I live on campus, I frequently cover shifts for nurses who are unable to report for duty. I still remember being asked to come to the hospital on May 3 (2023). I ended up staying all night. People kept coming in with injuries the whole time,' she recalls. Before all this, Ranjita was a part of a four-member team that provided door-to-door palliative care. 'I would receive a call if a patient removed their Ryle's tube (used for feeding through the nose) by mistake or if they were in too much pain. One by one, the others moved to different teams, but they would keep referring their patients to me,' she says, adding that though the programme has been discontinued, 'this is what I am most proud of'. While Ranjita says she has never hesitated in taking care of her patients, she recalls a scare she got while seven months pregnant with her second child. 'I remember rushing to a hospital corridor at the end of my night shift to help a woman, who had started delivering her baby there. In the afternoon, I received a call and was informed that the woman was HIV positive. I had to take medicines to protect myself and my baby,' she says. Like Ranjita, Banu too has never shied away from her duties as a nurse at NIMHANS, one of the country's foremost mental health hospitals. Taking care of nearly 170 doctors, nurses, health workers and medical students during the pandemic, she says, 'earned me this award'. Banu, who specialises in taking care of patients with psychiatric and neurological conditions, manages a rehabilitation centre at NIMHANS. 'There are several patients who do not have an acute condition, but their mental ailments don't quite not allow them to integrate into society. So our centre gives them structure. They work at the centre daily, from 8 am to 4 pm, making cakes, paper, printing things, etc. They also receive some remuneration for their work,' she says. Banu is also the lead author of a study related to the pandemic, which found that the lockdown and unavailability of alcohol had resulted in fewer road accidents, though cases of domestic violence had gone up. For the study, Banu, who also worked at the hospital's neuro-emergency department during the pandemic, collected data on walk-ins with head injuries. As part of her PhD thesis, she has created a protocol to reduce and stop the use of tobacco among people with schizophrenia. 'Though we were able to get only 25% of these people to stop using tobacco for a week, the use did dip significantly,' she says. In her message to future nurses, she says, 'You don't have to be Mother Teresa, but if you become a nurse, you have to work hard with honesty and with humanity.' Major-General Sheena, who has worked 10 years as a critical care nurse and as an oncology nurse for nearly two decades, agrees with Banu's message. 'It is a job that requires a lot of dedication, devotion and diligence,' she says. Having trained as an oncology nurse at Mumbai's Tata Memorial Hospital and worked with cancer patients on multiple Army bases across the country, she says, 'When I started as an oncology nurse, not many were trained in the field. There was no concept of palliative care. I am happy that nurses have now started specialising in different fields, including cancer care.' Before retiring from service in April, Major-General Sheena worked at the Army headquarters for 12 years, where her duties included inducting younger nurses to the service. One of the biggest challenges for her over the years, she says, has been giving 'realistic' hope to her patients and their families. Other 'challenges', she says, included preparing her patients to deal with their therapies, and counselling families on how to support and care for cancer patients. Anonna Dutt is a Principal Correspondent who writes primarily on health at the Indian Express. She reports on myriad topics ranging from the growing burden of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension to the problems with pervasive infectious conditions. She reported on the government's management of the Covid-19 pandemic and closely followed the vaccination programme. Her stories have resulted in the city government investing in high-end tests for the poor and acknowledging errors in their official reports. Dutt also takes a keen interest in the country's space programme and has written on key missions like Chandrayaan 2 and 3, Aditya L1, and Gaganyaan. She was among the first batch of eleven media fellows with RBM Partnership to End Malaria. She was also selected to participate in the short-term programme on early childhood reporting at Columbia University's Dart Centre. Dutt has a Bachelor's Degree from the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune and a PG Diploma from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. She started her reporting career with the Hindustan Times. When not at work, she tries to appease the Duolingo owl with her French skills and sometimes takes to the dance floor. ... Read More
