HIV sufferers marry today in S. Sulawesi

UJUNGPANDANG, S. Sulawesi (JP): Three women infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) are getting married today despite ulemas' call to cancel the wedding.

One of the grooms is also HIV-positive.

The women, identified only as Mawar, Melati and Ros, are former prostitutes.

They will marry Uda, Sida and Udin (not their real names) at the Mattirodeceng center for the rehabilitation of prostitutes.

The women said there was nothing special about their marriages.

"It's not different from other women's," said one of them. "We have wishes and hopes for the future."

Udin said "we are normal human beings, we wish to marry and that's our right," he said.

The local Ministry of Social Services office, which owns the rehabilitation center, has reported the planned wedding to the central office in Jakarta.

The chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulemas' (MUI) South Sulawesi office, K.H. Sanusi Baco, said the wedding should be called off because it would create harm, especially for the couples' future children.

"Of course there's no special prohibition, but they'd be better off not going ahead with the plan," he said.

He cited as Islamic principle that prioritizes acts that prevent harm over proceeding with acts that bring good.

"If they're marrying for the sake of love, and out of feeling close as mutual sufferers, that's no problem. We should respect it. It's just that Islam has this principle," he said.

A social worker, Pahir, said the three couples faced a dilemma.

"They have the right to marry but their children may also suffer from their parents' disease," he said.

The director of a volunteers group to anticipate AIDS, Zulkifli Amin, said there was no reason not to let the couples marry.

He said the couples should use condoms so the wives would not infect their husbands.

Local health ministry officials said there were at least five AIDS carriers in South Sulawesi, four from Ujungpandang and one from Luwu regency.

Meanwhile, in Yogyakarta, a health expert said that as of the end of June, five more people had been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, bringing the number of reported cases in Indonesia to 550.

House of Representatives member Nafsiah Mboi said Jakarta had the most cases of HIV/AIDS with 172.

Irian Jaya has the second most with 137 and Riau has the third most with 44.

Of the 550 infected people 418 are HIV carriers, while 132 have full-blown AIDS, Nafsiah said. (30/23/06/swe)