Story By: Feza Uzay, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency:  Newsflash

A two-year-old HIV sufferer has died in hospital after her mother, who does not believe AIDS exists, flushed her pills down the toilet, depriving her of needed treatment.

Local media report how the HIV-positive girl died after her mother, Ksenia Dubovik (Stolbtsova), age not disclosed, deprived her of her medication in the town of Osinniki in the Russian federal subject of Kemerovo Oblast.

Human rights activists aware of the family case informed Russian State Duma members Oksana Pushkina and Fedot Tumusov, according to local media.

The activists, from the organisation Takie Dela, claimed the mother did not give her young daughter the medication she needed because she does not believe in the existence of AIDS.

The mother also wrote on the social network VK that she did not undergo antiretroviral therapy during pregnancy, which is necessary to reduce the risk of fetal infection, indicating that the mother herself suffers from HIV which explains how the child was infected.

After doctors diagnosed the girl as having HIV at the age of one, the mother allegedly refused to give her medication.

According to reports, she told the police that she flushed the girl’s pills down the toilet.

During her brief life, the tot was hospitalised numerous times in a serious condition.

After one such incident, the girl’s father, Artem Dubovik, who did not live with the mother, turned to the authorities to deprive his ex-wife of parental rights, however, she only received a fine on that occasion.

According to Life, the last time the child was hospitalised was on 26th June. Doctors did everything possible to save the girl’s life, but the advanced stage of AIDS took her life on the same day she was admitted.

A spokesperson for Takie Dela said: “We have repeatedly appealed to numerous bodies and organisations about the need to take urgent measures to protect the little girl’s life.

“With every appeal, we backed it up with screenshots and documents showing the negligent attitude of relatives towards the child’s diagnosis, including the deliberate refusal of treatment which ultimately led to the child’s death.”

The spokesperson added that they will file a report with the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The girl’s mother has not been arrested yet. The police probe continues.