Court rules AIDS sufferer's marriage invalid

Minhang District People's Court declared a marriage invalid according to the Civil Code on Monday because the husband concealed that he had AIDS.

When the couple married in June last year, the wife, surnamed Li, was pregnant. Several days later, her husband, surnamed Jiang, confessed he had had AIDS for many years and had taken medicine for a long time.

Jiang promised he was not infectious, and Li and the baby tested negative but she could not accept her husband’s illness. She decided to terminate the pregnancy and take legal action to revoke the marriage.

According to the Civil Code, which took effect on Friday, a marriage is invalid if a man or woman conceals a critical illness before the wedding.

The district court said the kind of illness was not key to the judgment. If Jiang had told Li about his illness before they got married, the court would not have supported the wife’s appeal.