A primary school in Madurai has barred entry to a 13-year-old student after discovering that he was HIV positive.
The incident came to light recently when the boy's mother went to Tamil Nadu AIDS Control Society Centre seeking help.
She said her son was not getting equal consideration like other students in the school as he was found to be HIV positive, according to B V Babu, president of NGO Madurai Network of Positive People.
According to the boy's mother blood reports revealed that she had HIV virus. She had been on medication ever since. But her husband and elder daughter and youngest son were not HIV positive. She said she had no clue as to how she contracted the virus.
The boy was tested HIV positive last year. But he was not put on the ART drug as his CD4 count was 475 and the drug is given to patients only when their CD4 dips below 350, Babu said.
The boy said that the teacher started discriminating him soon after perusing a notebook which contained details about his treatment.
The school authorities, however, denied the allegations saying the boy was very sick so they did not ask him to come. Meanwhile, the boy's younger brother also stayed away from school as one of the teachers had allegedly told him to ensure that his brother did not come to school.