Pratapgarh:
In Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh, four children live in the village graveyard under a sheesham tree right next to where their parents are buried. The youngest is seven.
A tattered tarpaulin for shelter and two broken cots are home for them ever since their parents died of AIDS (Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome) and their relatives threw them out for fear of contracting the dreaded virus. They eat when someone gives them something, says the oldest, a 17-year-old boy.
"My father died of AIDS. Two years later, my mother died of AIDS too. I used to live with my relatives in the village, but they got scared that they would also get AIDS so they threw us out," he explains.
With nowhere to go, they began living in the graveyard, drawing comfort from the graves of their parents.
But that comfort too might be short-lived. A resident of the village says other villagers now feel the children will "contaminate" the graves of their forebears and so want them to move out.
Shocked child rights activists say it is the government's responsibility to ensure the children are rescued. An activist said there are clear guidelines on how children infected with HIV must be looked after.
A tattered tarpaulin for shelter and two broken cots are home for them ever since their parents died of AIDS (Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome) and their relatives threw them out for fear of contracting the dreaded virus. They eat when someone gives them something, says the oldest, a 17-year-old boy.
"My father died of AIDS. Two years later, my mother died of AIDS too. I used to live with my relatives in the village, but they got scared that they would also get AIDS so they threw us out," he explains.
With nowhere to go, they began living in the graveyard, drawing comfort from the graves of their parents.
But that comfort too might be short-lived. A resident of the village says other villagers now feel the children will "contaminate" the graves of their forebears and so want them to move out.
Shocked child rights activists say it is the government's responsibility to ensure the children are rescued. An activist said there are clear guidelines on how children infected with HIV must be looked after.
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