HIV+ man penalized for wife's suicide

RAJKOT: Dilip Prajapati (name changed), a 35-year-old HIV+ patient in Bhavnagar, had barely recovered from the shock of his wife's suicide. An AIDS patient herself for seven years, she was tired of the disease and committed suicide by setting herself ablaze on September 2.
Instead of standing by him in this difficult time, Prajapati's community slapped a fine of Rs 1.11 lakh on him.Prajapati, who earns Rs 150 a day by working as a labourer at a food eatery, was forced to borrow money and sell ornaments of his wife to pay the fine.
"I was told that since my wife committed suicide, I should pay a fine of Rs 1.11 lakh. I am a very poor person so had to bow down to the community leaders' demands," Prajapati, who belongs to Gurjar Kadiya-Kumbhar Prajapati community, told TOI.
"I don't know why I was fined. I have not committed any crime. I have borrowed money and sold ornaments to pay the fine," said Prajapati, who paid the money on Friday.
Prajapati spend most of his earnings on medication.
It is learnt that his wife's brother and other relatives have taken away a huge chunk of this fine. When TOI contacted Mahadev Prajapati, his brother-in-law, he denied even knowing Prajapati.
Prajapati, however, has got support from his neighbours, who approached deputy superintendent police, Imtiaz Sheikh. "We can only look into the matter if Prajapati comes to meet us personally," Sheikh told TOI.
Prajapati and his wife belong to Abhepara village of Banaskantha district's Vav taluka.