Villagers shun children of Indian AIDS victims

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Five children have been thrown out of their homes and are living by the graves of their parents who died of acquired immune deficiency syndrome in a northern Indian village.

District administrator Vidya Bhushan says they were ostracized three months ago by the villagers who feared that the four brothers and one sister, between the ages of 7 and 17, were infected with the HIV virus from their parents.

They have been living under a tattered tarpaulin with two broken beds in the graveyard on the outskirts of Mauwa, a village in Uttar Pradesh state, Nishar Bano, one of the children, told Eenadu, Hindi television news channel Friday.

Bhushan said authorities will provide them with housing and organize medical checks-up to allay the fears of the villagers.