Raging Iran father kills his HIV-infected son with
axe: paper
TEHRAN, Dec 10 (AFP) - An Iranian father chopped up his 23-year-old
son with an axe after finding out that he was infected with the deadly
HIV-virus which causes AIDS, newspapers reported Sunday.
According to the Kerman-e Emrouz daily, a local paper published in
the southeastern Kerman province, the raging father,
whose identity was not revealed, attacked and brutally killed his drug-addicted
son with an axe last week.
The young man, said to have come from a prominent local family, had
infected himself with the deadly virus via intravenous drug use while serving
time in a Kerman prison for a drug-related offence.
Drugs, notably opium, are easily found in poorer cities like Kerman
where authorities are fighting to control increasing drug trafficking and
addiction.
In late November, officials from Iran's health ministry announced That
some 10,000 Iranians are believed to be infected with the HIV virus, while
official statistics put the figure at just 2,207 registered cases of HIV-positive
people.
During the same month, officials here also announced that they had
banned tattooing in a bid to control the "time bomb" of the fatal
virus.
"There is a time bomb ticking in Iran and we have to take it seriously,"
Health Minister Mohammad Farhadi had said at a Tehran conference ahead
of World AIDS Day on December 1.
Intravenous drug use accounts for 65 percent of HIV infections in Iran,
according to official statistics.
Iran is a major transshipment point for narcotics coming from neighbouring
Afghanistan and Pakistan destined for the markets of Europe and central
Asia .
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