Three female HIV carries vow to remain childless

Three female HIV carries vow to remain childless

UJUNGPANDANG, S. Sulawesi (JP): Three former prostitutes who
are infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) say they
will go ahead with their marriage plans but forego having
children.

"We know the risks we are facing by getting married, and so
we've decided not to have children," Wiwiek, who hails from the
West Java town of Cimahi, told dozens of reporters covering her
friend Nuraeni's marriage to Syamsuddin on Saturday.

Wiwiek, 35, Nuraeni, 24, and their friend, Asni, 25,
originally planned to marry on the same day at the Mattirodeceng
rehabilitation center for prostitutes. However, Asni and Wiwiek
were disappointed because the local Islamic court registrar
refused to marry them, citing absence of parental or guardian
consent.

M. Thaha Ali from the registrar's office said he would appoint
guardians to enable the women to marry soon.

Syamsuddin, 28, is a civil servant. Asni is engaged to Sidda,
a cassava farmer, and Wiwiek is set to marry Kunding, who is also
HIV positive. HIV eventually leads to Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome (AIDS), the fatal condition in which the body's
depressed immune system is unable to fight off infections.

"I hope marriage will help me settle down," Wiwiek said.

Colleng, Nuraeni's father, said he expected marriage would
help his daughter "live right".

"She's been married three times before, and a prostitute for
several years. All our advice fell on deaf ears, and she chose to
run away when we tried to bring her home," Colleng said.

"I'm hoping that this marriage will help her settle down, and
that her husband can guide her."

Controversy over the marriages has yet to die down. K.H.
Sanusi Baco, the chairman of the local office of the Indonesian
Council of Ulemas, said the marriages were makruh, an Islamic
term for a deed that is not sinful but not commendable, either.

"Their marriages will cause disaster, especially for their
offspring, so that it'd be better if they did not marry at all,"
he said.

He conceded Islam views marriage as a sunnah (a commendable
deed), and that it was obligatory for a person who fears that he
or she might be tempted into fornication.

"However, we need to also see whether the marriage will bring
more harm than good," he said.

Jalaluddin Rahmat, a lecturer at the Alauddin State Institute
for Islamic Studies, disagreed. "As long as the religious
requirements are met, the marriage is valid. Preventing them from
marrying is tantamount to a human rights violation," he said.

Figure

Separately, in the Central Java capital of Semarang, Minister
of Health Sujudi warned the number of Indonesians with AIDS may
rise to one million unless concerted steps are taken.

"This calls for serious actions," he was quoted by Antara as
saying before a meeting of ulemas Saturday.

He said the number of people with HIV/AIDS was estimated at 30
to 40 million by 2000, with 80 percent of them living in Asia.

He said India had one million confirmed cases compared to the
560 people with AIDS or HIV in Indonesia. "That's the reported
cases. We don't know the exact number," Sujudi said. (30/31/swe)