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February 2007 |
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HIV Divorced Woman Seeks Maintenance By Madube Pasi Siyauya A Lusaka woman of Frank compound has asked the Legal Resources Foundation (LRF) to assist her claim maintenance from her husband who has sent her away because of her HIV status. The woman who can not be mentioned for fear of stigmatisation told Legal Resources Foundation Chawama Paralegal Musonda Nkonde that her husband of 14 years, with whom she has four children, decided to divorce her and send her and the children away because she is HIV positive. The woman said after the death of one of her children she decided to go for voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) and discovered that she was HIV positive. Later, the whole family went for VCT and it was discovered that her husband was found to be negative as well as their fourth child who is three years old. But her third child, aged 11, was found to be HIV positive. She narrated that when they went home, her husband asked her and the children to leave. The woman said her husband also told her to file for divorce. The woman told LRF that she wants to be assisted to let the court compel her former husband to be maintaining her and the children. She also wants to get a share of the matrimonial home which she said was built while they were married. Nkonde advised her that under the Affiliation and Maintenance of Children Act cap 64 of the Laws of Zambia a parent is under obligation to provide for the family. He said willfully neglecting children can lead to criminal proceedings against her former husband. Nkonde assured the woman that his office would assist her in obtaining a maintenance order and a divorce. |
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