In an unprecedented court ruling for Argentina, a man has been found guilty of having knowingly transmitted the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) to his partner.
The 56-year-old man was handed a three-year suspended prison sentence and ordered to pay US$40,000 in damages to the victim, a 40-year-old woman, by a court in Buenos Aires City.
He was convicted of “the crime of infection of a sexually transmitted disease, together with severe and extremely severe injuries, aggravated by bond and gender.”
It is a historic decision and the “first conviction in Argentina of a person for infecting [another] with HIV,” a spokesperson from the Buenos Aires City Public Prosecutor's Office said to the La Nación newspaper.
The court found that the accused, knowing about his disease, “did not take the necessary steps to prevent infection.” The subsequent infection caused the victim’s health “to be permanently weakened,” read a ruling accessed by the Noticias Argentinas news agency.
“The court ruling, the first for this crime, approves the settlement between the parties, whereby the accused was sentenced to three years in prison, which has been suspended,” the judgement specified.
Civil damages for the victim were set at US$40,000, a figure to which both parties agreed.
The court also ruled that the man may not contact the victim for a minimum of three years. He must undertake 80 hours of community service with the Fundación Cáritas, attend a workshop on gender violence, define a residence to police and notify the authorities of any change of address.
The case was launched by City prosecutors specialising in gender violence after a complaint was made.
"The case began with the victim's complaint after becoming aware of her condition. It caused a thrombosis that turned into a lifelong necrosis [death of body tissue] in the iliac and femoral veins, and an oedematisation, also permanent, of the left leg.
“All this, with the risk of life in the event of a new thrombosis, added to the certain and imminent risk of contracting other diseases," said the spokesperson quoted by La Nación.
Investigators collected various pieces of evidence, such as medical tests and testimonies, which helped establish that the accused first learnt of his disease in March 2013.
The couple shared a five-year relationship that lasted from 2011 until 2016. During that period they had sexual intercourse without any protection to prevent the transmission of diseases, the court heard, with prosecutors stating the man “took no steps to prevent the infection.”
In a press release, the Buenos Aires Public Prosecutor's Office stated: "The infection caused the victim's mental health to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and mood disorders, as a result of the whole situation caused by the HIV infection."
The resolution of the case is a result of a negotiated settlement between the parties that was approved by Judge Fernanda Botana, he was sentenced to three years in prison, which has been suspended.
– TIMES/NA
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