Mother 'kills baby in Aids fear'

By Omer Farooq
BBC News, Hyderabad

Police in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh have detained a mother who they accuse of drowning her adopted son.

The mother tied the baby to a heavy stone and threw him down a well after villagers told her that he might be suffering from Aids, police say.

The ten month-old baby was suffering from a fever, cough and weight loss.

The incident took place on Sunday in a village in East Godavari district, a coastal area where there is a high prevalence of HIV/Aids.

East Godavari district superintendent of police Navin Chand told the BBC that the mother, Chintaluri Kumari, allegedly threw her adopted son into a well in Gurripudi village.

Police have taken Ms Kumari into custody and registered a case of murder against her.

The police say the husband is not a suspect in the case.

No sons

The woman and her husband adopted the baby two weeks ago from an unknown family in a nearby Draksharamam village.

Ms Kumari had previously given birth to three daughters.

Mr Chand said that no medical tests had been conducted on the baby before his death.

The body has now been sent for a post-mortem.

East Godavari is one of a handful of coastal districts in Andhra Pradesh with a high level of HIV/Aids.

India as a whole has more than 5 million HIV/Aids patients, according to figures released by the UN agency UNAids in July 2004.