Five HIV-positive couples have married at a centre in Maharashtra’s Latur district, where they grew up after being abandoned or losing their parents to the disease. The couples married on April 22 in Hasegaon village, where a social worker established the Happy Indian Village as part of a project called Sevalay to care for one child infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS. Many such children have received healthcare, education, and shelter from the facility over the years. According to founder Ravi Bapatale, the organization now has nearly 50 HIV-positive children. So far, 23 HIV-positive couples associated with the centre have married. Happy Indian Village now has seven married HIV-positive couples who have HIV-negative children, he said. When Bapatale first opened the facility, he encountered a lot of opposition. I’m glad we’ve been able to care for so many HIV-positive children over the years, he says.
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