Dinhata, July 29: A 70-year-old woman has been driven out of the red light area of this Cooch Behar town after she reportedly tested positive for HIV.

The woman, said to be a former sex worker, was seen lying on a plank of wood covering a drain at Gosani Road in the heart of the town with no one to give her a morsel or take her to hospital.

Confirming that the woman was infected with HIV, Dinhata subdivisional officer Indrajit Pal said he had asked the subdivisional hospital not to refuse admission if somebody took her there. “I have also asked police to conduct an investigation.”

The woman’s daughter, also a resident of the area, said her mother was mentally unstable. “She does not stay at home and runs away frequently. I have given up on her.”