The Additional Sessions Court of Jaipur on Friday stayed the order of a trial court which denied a HIV+ widow custody of her daughter. The court will hear the case on October 11. Last week, a lower court in Alwar had denied the 27-year-old woman, the widow of a former Armyman, the custody of her daughter, as she was HIV+. The woman, a resident of Jhunjhunu, contracted the virus from her husband, who had full blown AIDS and died in 2003. The woman alleged that her in-laws, who live in Alwar district, threw her out of their home after she refused to part with the money she had received as compensation after her husband’s death. Her in-laws wanted to buy land with the money, while she wanted it to be kept away for her daughter. When she was turned out of the house, she was also not allowed to take her daughter with her. Having been once denied custody by a lower court, she then appealed in the sessions court for her daughter’s custody. She also wants her in-laws to return the dowry she brought with her on marriage.
