New Delhi: The Madras High Court has severely reprimanded the state Health Ministry, asking it to remove all banners of an AIDS awareness campaign within a week after a woman featured in the advertisements complained that her picture was taken without consent.
The woman claims that her picture in the AIDS awareness campaign - put up by the Tamil Nadu AIDS Control society - almost forced her to commit suicide. She says that her neighbours and relatives have started suspecting her of suffering from AIDS after the advertisement campaign appeared.
The irresponsible act has had a big impact on the lives of the woman and her husband for they are going through a tough time explaining to people that she is healthy and is not suffering from the deadly disease.
The woman had approached the High Court after several attempts to contact the society failed.
"They just put up the ads without asking me. I never posed for any picture and then when we approached them they were very rude to us. So I was left with no choice but to drag them to court," she said.
The High Court has taken serious note of the issue and has told the Health Ministry that the social status of the woman as well as her family will be affected by the advertisements.
The Health Ministry argued in court that they had found the picture on a website, but the court asked them what provision in law gave them the right to use the picture. There will be a final hearing on the case in a month's time.
The woman's lawyer, G Mohana Krishnan says, "The court has asked the Health Ministry to remove all banners of the AIDS awareness campaign within a week."
The woman has sought an apology from the AIDS control society and has also asked for a compensation of Rs 1 crore.
Comments
0 comment