Mother, Brother of HIV-Positive Man Confess to His Murder

A HIV-positive man in India was strangled to death last week, and police have charged his relatives with the crime, according to The Times of India.

The mother of the victim called police on August 5 in Tirunelveli, India, to report that her son, Isaac Robin, had died after vomiting blood for several minutes. Robin had been diagnosed as HIV positive last year.

Police examined the body before returning it to the family for cremation. However, the postmortem report, released on August 10, revealed a broken neck and windpipe, indicating strangulation.

The next day, police arrested Robin’s mother, Gnanalet, and brother, Prabu, after they confessed to murdering their family member. The police superintendent believes that social stigma related to the victim’s HIV status may have been the motive.

Robin, 34, had returned to live with his family last year after suffering from health problems. His mother and brother had asked him to leave, however, after word of his condition began to spread around their village, causing friends and relatives to alienate the household.

The suspects told police that Robin had returned to the house the night of his murder. After drinking liquor, a fight broke up amongst the family members, causing his brother to strangle him to death.

Police were also searching for a family friend named Pradu, who was also present the night of the crime.