Villagers want a 23 acre lake to be drained after a HIV + woman commits suicide in it

Bengaluru: District administration officials in Morab village in Karnataka, Hubli expected to drain a 23 acre lake and fill it up with water from the neighbouring Malaprabha canal. The reason behind this was the public pressure after an HIV positive woman in her late twenties decided to end her life by jumping into it.

On November 29, her body was found floating in the lake bloated and half eaten by fish. On visualising this villagers refused to drink water from the water body, believing that it was contaminated with HIV.

Tashildar of Navalagund said that they had no choice but to give in to the villagers demands.

However, Dr Nagraj - Directir of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of chest and Communicable diseases claimed there was no scientific basis for their panic. It’s wrong to believe that the water has been contaminated with HIV because studies show that the virus cannot survive for over eight hours in water if exposed to temperatures above 25 degrees centigrade. Now, it’s been over six days since the body was recovered he said.