Kerala's HIV Positive Schoolgirl Bency Dies

15-year-old Bency, one of the two HIV-positive kids in Kerala who battled school authorities for shunning them is dead. She died on Thursday at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College hospital, where she was admitted last week after her condition turned serious. Bency and her younger brother Benson, contracted the infection from their parents, who are also dead. They were looked after by a widowed grandmother.

The HIV positive siblings were the center of media attention when they sought the help of chief minister A K Antony after top schools turned them down. Their grandfather, who helped them get re-admitted to school in 2004, died in 2005.

Grandmother Sallamma says Benson is her only source of comfort now, "When I cry, he tells me not to cry because he can feel Munna (Bency) is lying in the bed next to his. He comforts me by saying that if I cry, then how can he bear the loss of his Munna," Sallamma said. Bency’s funeral will take place when her uncle comes from Mumbai.

Source-Medindia
RAS