Addict tests HIV Positive, fears friends vulnerable too

Parvesh Sharma
Tribune News Service
Sangrur, July 4

A 17-year-old chitta addict Badrukhan village in the district is the eldest in his group of 12 addicted youngsters. He is unnerved these days since he has been tested positive for HIV and he fears that others in his group might be infected as well. He is trying to convince them to undergo HIV test as they had been sharing syringes to inject chitta.

“I have got infected only because of sharing syringes with my friends. I do not want the deadly virus to spread further,” said the teenager, who studies in Class XII. He said some addicts even collected used syringes dumped near ROB for injecting drugs.

He said around a year ago, he and his friends were playing in the village ground when an addict from Sangrur offered them chitta free of cost saying that it would enhance their performance. “Once we starting taking chitta, we got addicted to it,” he said.

Badrukhan village is known for being the birth place of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. But the drug menace has brought a bad name to it.

An uncle of the teenager said they got conducted his medical tests from at least three laboratories and all confirmed that he was HIV positive.

“Till Class XI he was a good student, but after falling in the trap of chitta, he lost everything. There are around 15 young addicts in the village. They might have contracted the HIV infection because of sharing syringes. The government should conduct their tests,” he said.

Sangrur SSP Dr Sandeep Garg said he had directed the SP and Sunam DSP to conduct raids to arrest peddlers supplying chitta to the youth. “I have taken up the matter with the administration for the tests and treatment of all addicts,” the SSP said.