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AIDS awareness

jen/ , dpa/afp/apApril 14, 2009

A member of hit German girl group No Angels has been arrested for allegedly having unprotected sex despite knowing she was HIV positive.

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No Angels singer Nadja Benaissa
Benaissa was arrested at a Frankfurt discothequeImage: picture-alliance/dpa

Lawyers for Nadja Benaissa, a 26-year-old singer with the succsessful girl band, is accused of having had unprotected sex with three men in 2004 and 2006, according to state prosecutors in Darmstadt, Germany.

One of the three men is now HIV positive, possibly as a consequence of his sexual relations with Benaissa.

No Angels singers
No Angels band members in happier timesImage: AP

No Angels sold 5 million album sales in their first three years. The four-woman group became an overnight sensation when they won a TV talent competition in Germany in 2000.

Benaissa was charged with dangerous bodily harm, and kept in custody as the investigating judge decided there was a risk she would repeat the alleged deed. The singer has one daughter, who was born in 1999.

According to recent figures, the number of new HIV infections has increased across all regions of Europe. Data gathered by the European AIDS research institute, EUHIV, in 2006 show there were over 26,000 new cases of HIV in the EU.