The recent incident in Mumbai highlighted the miserable plight of people suffering with AIDS. In Mumbai, parents infected with HIV killed their three children before committing suicide. This incident has once again highlighted the narrow thinking of Indians regarding people infected with HIV. Most Indians are not even ready to touch people infected with HIV.

Despite various awareness programs started by the government to educate people about AIDS, there has been no major change in thinking of people. Various incidences related to abandonment of HIV patients by their families and spouses have been reported from time to time.

The narrow mentality of people towards HIV people forced a couple to kill their children and commit suicide.

The Bombay, India-based couple took this extreme step after discovering that their six-year-old daughter had contracted the virus that causes AIDS.

Babu Ishwar Thevar and his wife, Amothi were undergoing treatment for HIV positive from last two years. They had been depressed by news that their daughter also had the HIV virus.

According to police, two sons Venkatesh, 10, and Mani, 8, and daughter, Mahalaxmi, 6 were given poisoned sweets. The girl who survived eating the poisoned sweets was smothered to death with a pillow.

The couple then committed suicide by hanging themselves from the ceiling by a nylon rope. Their bodies were found by the dead man's younger brother Armugam when he went to the house late that night after work.

This incident highlights the condition of people suffering from AIDS. The sad point is that even educated people carry misconceptions about AIDS.

According to data, approximately 2.5 million people are infected with this deadly virus in India. This number is increasing rapidly due to lack of proper knowledge about this disease. Even medical professionals often treat people suffering with AIDS with contempt. The lack of proper knowledge is increasing number of AIDS patients by leaps and bounds in villages.