A group of 11 HIV positive people including three children have been living at the Akura Single and Infected Women´s Group in Saldanda. The group has been living off the land they have rented for the past two years.
Earlier, the Diamond Model School here had expelled three HIV positive children. Although the school had admitted the children, it expelled them after protest by parents of other children.
“Although they haven´t formally told us to leave, I have heard that they have already decided to evict us,” says Laxmi Adhikari, president of the HIV positive group.
While the group admits that they have been discriminated against on various occasions, this is the first time that they are facing eviction. Bishnumaya Nepali, a member of the group, says that locals have already told her landlord to vacate the house within a week.
“The locals are pressuring the landlord who has rented the house to HIV positives to vacate the house arguing that the disease was transmittable and if it was not they would not have left their own homes,” says Purna Bahadur Baral, who says he is also discriminated against by the locals for being friendly with HIV positive people.
“The government should set up a separate place for them. We don´t want to spread the disease in the name of helping them,” says Leelanath Bhandari, a local social worker.
But Dilip Gurung, secretary of the Western Regional HIV/AIDS network, says they won´t allow the locals to evict the HIV victims.
The HIV infected group has rented 30 ropanis of land and a house at Saldanda for Rs 2,000 per month. They are making their living by growing vegetables and maize in the rented land and are in a debt of Rs 70,000.
“I don´t know how we will ever pay back the debt if we´re evicted,” says Ram Nepali, an HIV victim.
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