Shunned kids get relief from prejudice at HIV school

Some of the children at Gokul were thrown out of other schools because of their HIV status. (Reuters: Arko Datta)

In a smart blue tunic and with red ribbons in her hair, 12-year-old Komal's laughing eyes hide a fear of death that stalks every student in her village school.

Within months or years she could be dead, but while she lives she is fulfilling her dream of going to school again after she was expelled from her previous one because she was infected with HIV.

"They used to throw water on me and tear up my books," Komal said as she reminisced about her days at a regular school.

"Still, I wanted to go to school, but one day my teacher said don't come back."

At Gokul, a school for HIV-infected children in this dusty village north of India's commercial hub of Mumbai, each student has a heart-wrenching tale of discrimination and suffering.

The disease orphaned all of them, some were thrown out of school for their HIV status or abandoned by families. All got the virus from their mothers.

The school is among only a few across India run by voluntary groups to teach infected children expelled by "normal" schools.