AIDS-affected ‘stoned’ to death: NGO has no proof

Serious doubts are being raised over the veracity of the Tirupati-based NGO’s version of the recent death of an AIDS-affected woman in Kuppan town of Andhra Pradesh. No conclusive evidence is available in support of the charge of the Women’s Initiatives (WINS) that HIV victim Pounamma was ‘‘stoned to death’’ by locals. WINS posted a press release on the issue on a website — aidsindia@yahoo.com — on the alleged killing but without carrying out any verifications.

Then, a Delhi-based Australian NGO shot off letters to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu protesting against the ‘‘incident’’.

WINS deputed one of its staffers to inquire into the incident. Sriram, a senior WINS functionary and a signatory to the press release, confirmed that none of the senior members visited Kuppam.

Her mother, Saradamma, dismisses the incident as fiction. She says she had been taking care of her ailing daughter for the past one-and-half years. Chittoor SP Naveen Chand described the NGO’s report as ‘‘totally false’’. However, Kuppam police today registered a case under Section 302 (murder) in the wake of the newspaper report.