AN AIDS patient extorted money from small eateries and grocery shops in Bao'an District in recent months by threatening to infect the shop owners with the disease.

Police caught the woman, who appears to be in her late 20s, last week after receiving reports from a restaurant owner surnamed Guo on Shangchuan Road, but had to release her because no prison was willing to accept her.

Guo said the woman went to the restaurant Wednesday morning, when it was full of customers.

"She said she had just spent all her savings of 5,000 yuan (US$715) on treatment for her disease and asked for a few hundred yuan from me. I hesitated because I gave her 300 yuan the last time she came," said Guo.

"Not satisfied, she showed ulcers on her legs and needles marks on her arms, shouting: 'If you don't give me the money, I will scratch or bite you!'" Guo said.

Guo's customers were frightened away. The woman left after police were called but Guo had to close for the rest of the day.

The woman had harassed almost every shop along Shangchuan Road, shop owners said. If they refused to pay, she would show her ulcers and scratch her skin to make it bleed to frighten customers, shop owners said.

They said she came almost every month and would not leave unless she was given money. When police arrived, she would leave as if nothing had happened, they said.

A shop owner who had been on the street for more than five years said the woman was from a Meizhou village. Her family had refused to see her after she developed HIV/AIDS from prostitution and drug addiction.

A policeman surnamed Li said police had caught the woman several times, but had to release her because no prison was willing to accept an AIDS patient.

"Because of the ulcers, nobody dared to touch her. We had to wear protective gear to approach her," said Li.

(Helen Deng)