HIV+ boy accuses stepmom

2005-06-24 08:33

Riot Hlatshwayo

Bushbuckridge - The nurse accused of injecting her four-year-old stepson with HIV-contaminated blood pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder on Thursday.

The 33-year-old nurse from Matikwane hospital in Mkhuhlu near Bushbuckridge, appeared in the Mkhuhlu regional court where five witnesses, including the boy, who is now six, testified.

The nurse, who wore a brown two-piece suit, remained calm in the dock as the boy, who spoke on television via a closed circuit camera, said he and the nurse's son were in the son's room when she entered holding an injection containing red liquid.

"I was lying on the floor and my brother was lying on the bed when my stepmother came with an injection that contained red liquid that looked like blood," the boy told the court.

He said she injected him in his right buttock but did not explain why she was injecting him.

The boy said he told his father about the incident when he returned home and that his father had an argument with his stepmother before taking him to a doctor in Hazyview.

He said the doctor only checked his eyes.

Two nurses at the Thulamahashe health centre took to the stand to confirm conducting the tests and counselling the boy when he was later found to be was HIV positive.

When the boy's mother took the stand she said she challenged her ex-husband when her son told her about the injection, but that his father claimed not to know anything about the matter. She then took the boy to the clinic for tests.

Magistrate Victor Mathebula then cleared the court so a doctor could testify in camera, which means his testimony cannot be made public.

The nurse and the boy's mother cannot be named to protect the child's identity.

- African Eye