DSK Accuser Infected With HIV?

The pathetic saga of IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has taken another turn, and now we know why the guy may be on suicide watch.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn may have more to worry about than a possible prison sentence.

The IMF chief's alleged sex-assault victim lives in a Bronx apartment rented exclusively for adults with HIV or AIDS, The Post has learned.

The hotel maid, a West African immigrant, has occupied the fourth-floor High Bridge pad with her 15-year-old daughter since January -- and before that, lived in another Bronx apartment set aside by Harlem Community AIDS United strictly for adults with the virus and their families.

The Post has not been able to ascertain whether the maid, 32, has HIV/AIDS because of medical confidentiality laws.

But the agency rents apartments only for adults with the disease. A Harlem United worker said at least one adult in the household has to be HIV-positive or have AIDS to qualify for one of their units. A healthy adult with a child with HIV or AIDS is not eligible.

"The [current] apartment isn't rented under her name. Harlem [Community AIDS] United places their tenants in our building," explained an employee of the apartment building's property manager, Chaim Gross, of Brooklyn.

The maid had previously lived in another High Bridge apartment rented by Harlem United, a source said. She had moved there with her child in 2008.

According to the agency, it is not uncommon for people with HIV/AIDS to move around.

Her lawyer, Jeffrey Shapiro, and a close family friend said the chambermaid is a widow who lives alone with her daughter. Public records list her as the only adult in the current apartment and the only adult having lived in her previous apartment.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the accuser is a 32-year-old widow and native of Guinea. She's been moved to an undisclosed location since her address was leaked, reportedly by foreign press.

Mr. Shapiro said the media scrutiny is so great that his client can't return to her Bronx apartment. Her name hasn't officially been released by authorities but has been published by foreign media outlets, a move he called "totally inappropriate in a case like this."

"She's not afraid of the process," he said. "She's afraid there are people out there who might want to try to hurt her or hurt her daughter."

Mr. Shapiro said the accuser is the sole supporter of her daughter and lives "paycheck to paycheck" but that she has been unable to return to work or to her home. He said the two saw each other Tuesday for the first time since Saturday.

Mr. Shapiro wouldn't comment on where the woman is staying other than to say accommodations have been made to provide her with "a safe place to stay."

He rejected notions "as absolutely ridiculous" that she consented to the encounter or that she was part of a conspiracy to set up the IMF chief, a suggestion that has gained some traction in France and elsewhere in Europe.

"She didn't know who this guy was," he said. "There's no conspiracy. She went in to clean the room and did not find out who this guy was until the next day."

It's curious how the French media was aghast at the sight of Strauss-Kahn being frogmarched by the NYPD, yet they're likely out there looking to identify the accuser publicly.