Police say a man has killed his HIV-positive wife in southern Pakistan, where nearly 700 people, most of them children, have tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS.
Authorities on May 29 said the killing of the 32-year-old woman took place in the village of Sikarpur outside the city of Larkana in Sindh Province, the focal point of the outbreak that has caused panic among area residents.
Officials say the HIV outbreak started in Rato Dero city when a local doctor, Muzaffar Ghangharo, who has AIDS, infected patients in early April.
Ghangharo was arrested this month after hundreds of people tested positive for the virus. Police were investigating whether Ghangharo knowingly spread the disease to others.
Officials said the victim in the killing was a mother of four who had tested positive for HIV, and her husband had accused her of having an extramarital affair.
The Shikarpur district police chief, Sajid Sadozai, confirmed the incident, saying the suspect had been booked on murder charges.
Access to health care and information on HIV is scarce in Sindh Province.
But experts have also warned of a surge in infection rates across Pakistan due to the use of unsanitary equipment and poor health-care practices in the country, which has one of the highest growth rates for new HIV infections in Asia.
Based on reporting by AFP and AP