In a heart-wrenching incident that has caused a stir in Egypt, a mother of two has reportedly committed suicide after her family was asked to leave their home.
Why? Because the Egyptian woman and her husband were diagnosed with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
According to local media reports, the unnamed woman, aged 24, jumped from the 5th floor in Cairo's Bulaq district due to what police have described as a "psychological crisis".
According to Al Hurra news outlet, the woman was initially diagnosed with the disease six months ago, having contracted it from her 32-year-old husband.
The latter, a heroin user, had become infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) through contaminated needles.
The couple has two children, a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old.
While the couple made an effort to keep the issue a secret in fear of scandal and public scrutiny, their neighbors recently found out about it.
In response, the area's residents held a meeting and decided to blatantly force the family to leave its home and the area of Boulaq El Dakror.
Despite the wife's initial refusal to succumb to their dehumanizing request, the family finally agreed to leave and decided to temporarily move in with the husband's mother.
However, when the husband took his kids downstairs to leave for his mother's place, the wife went back up to the apartment claiming to fetch something.
Unfortunately, instead, she threw herself out of the window to meet her fate seconds later. Soon after, police arrived at the scene and confirmed the incident to be a case of suicide, ruling out homicide.
HIV in Egypt is spreading at an 'alarming' rate, according to the UN
Lack of education and continuous repression of the subject have impeded the efforts made to combat the disease...
This is one of the many stories that demonstrate how the ignorance and stigma surrounding the disease in Egypt have taken a toll on patients' lives.
Earlier this month, the United Nations "voiced alarm" over the spread of HIV in Egypt, where the number of new cases has been growing by 25 to 30 percent a year.
UNAIDS says there are over 11,000 cases of HIV present in the country. However, Egypt's Health Ministry disagrees, claiming the number is around 7,000.
Egypt ranks "behind only Iran, Sudan and Somalia in the Middle East", in terms of the rate at which the epidemic is spreading.
The lack of education and continuous repression of the subject have impeded the efforts made to combat the disease.
"These groups are highly stigmatized, so they don't seek treatment," Lara Dabaghi, UNAIDS regional communications adviser, once told Al Jazeera.
"Governments in the region do have treatment centers and they do offer treatment for free, but people do not access the treatment because of stigma and discrimination," she explained.