88-year-old woman avoids rape by telling attacker she has HIV

I must commend this 88-year-old Pennsylvania woman for her bravery after she tricked a would-be rapist by telling him she had HIV. You would agree with me that not every or would-be rape victims are able to quickly pop up such a trickery idea that would scare away their attacker.


Helen Reynolds from the US, said the man who posed as an apartment complex employee forced his way into her apartment after knocking on her door and asking for a drink on February 17, rifled through her purse, took $40 and was preparing to sexually assault her.

“I said to him, ‘Well, it’s like this,’” Reynolds told reporters.

“You might as well know the truth,” she said. “I have HIV and my husband died from it, which is a lie. When I said that, he just walked out of the bedroom. That’s the comment that saved my life.”

She said the man used duct tape to bind her once inside.

“He wrapped it all around my face and my nose and my eyeglasses,” she said, adding that “he had a piece in my mouth.”

According to her, her trick worked just at the right time, as the suspect had already taken off her pants and removed his own.

She told Philly.com that she then “kicked him where it hurt him the most,” before he fled.

Please can anyone tell me why would someone want to rape an 88-year-old woman?

Associated press