In the third month of her pregnancy Vanitha  and her husband Prabhakaran tested HIV positive. Vanitha did not want to abort. She gave birth to Suprabha. Later, she gave birth to four more children- three daughters and a son.

Prabhakaran belongs to Pujari caste and Vanitha to Devadiya caste. Her family was much poorer than Prabhakaran’s. He used to go for hunting in a forest near Vanitha’s house. It was during these hunting trips that they fell in love.

Vanitha’s mother, Kalyani, had come with her parents to Ukrata, a village in Bajoli town in Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka, when she was a child. They worked for a landlord who later gave them an acre of land. It was divided between Kalyani and her brother.

Kalyani married her cousin ,Vitala, when she was 20. Till his retirement two years ago, Vitala worked in various restaurants outside Karnataka. Kalyani and Vitala have two daughters, Vanitha and Mamtha.

Vanitha’s family did not approve her love for Prabhakaran. They stopped talking to her after she married him. Kalyani moved to another place.

After Vanitha gave birth to their first daughter Pavithra, Prabhakaran went to Mumbai to work in a restaurant. The family was struggling financially. It was during her second pregnancy that the two of them tested HIV positive. Despite strong objection from their doctor, they decided against abortion. They were desperately hoping for a boy. But this time too they became parents to a daughter, Suprabha. The third child too was  a daughter, Chaitra. But they did not give up hope. Their wish was fulfilled soon when Vanitha gave birth to a son, Pramod. She gave birth to one more daughter, Pavith, who is now studying in 5th standard. Vanitha’s sixth pregnancy was a still birth.

After they had tested HIV positive, Vanitha and Prabhakaran never took medical assistance during pregnancy period the next four times. They handled the childbirth themselves.

Vanitha died a few months after her sixth delivery. Soon, Prabhakaran killed himself. His body was found inside a forest.

Pavithra married a man she had met while attending a computer course after twelve standard. She is seven months pregnant now. Suprabha stooped studying after tenth standard due to financial crises. Chaitra is in tenth standard, Pramod in eighth standard and Pavith in sixth standard.