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"Cambodian with HIV gets jail for
trying to infect wife"
The
Star (www.thestar.com.my)
(05/08/06)
PHNOM PENH: An HIV-positive Cambodian man has been sentenced to 10 years in
jail for trying to infect his wife by raping her without using a condom,
court officials said yesterday.
Meas My, 40, was found guilty at Phnom Penh Municipal court on Thursday,
marking the first conviction under Cambodia's landmark AIDS law passed in
2003, they said.
The law allows courts to jail people for 10 to 15 years for infecting or
trying to infect others with HIV.
“He intended to infect his wife with HIV. He sometimes said he wanted his
wife to die with him,” prosecutor Ngeth Sarath said, adding that the man's
wife knew he was HIV-positive.
“During sex, he did not use a condom, making the wife run away from their
bed. When she refused to have sex with him, he beat her up,” the prosecutor
said.
Meas My was arrested in January after his wife told police about his
repeated sexual assaults.
The prosecutor declined to say whether the woman, whose identity was
withheld to protect her privacy, was infected with HIV.
“This is a message for husbands infected with HIV/AIDS that they must not
infect their wives,” Ngeth Sarath said.
Cambodia has the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Asia, with 1.9% of the
population, or approximately 123,000 people, infected. — AFP
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