High Debt, No Jobs Due To Lockdown Force Assam Villagers To Sell Kidneys

Assam kidney racket: Poverty, micro-finance loan debts and the promise of easy money have pushed villagers to sell their kidneys

A big human organ trafficking racket that persuaded villagers in debt to sell their kidneys has been busted in Assam. Three people have been arrested, the police said, in the case linked to Assam's Dharamtul village where at least a dozen villagers have sold their kidneys to organ traffickers. Poverty, micro-finance loan debts and the promise of easy money have pushed villagers to sell their kidneys. The incidents have increased in the last one year when villagers struggled for income amid the lockdown necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Sumanta Das, 37, is a mason who has been out of work since the lockdown began last year. His son needed a heart operation, but with no construction activities amid the pandemic, there was no money in hand. Mr Das, in desperate need of money, sold his kidney. He was promised Rs 5 lakh, but got only a fraction - Rs 1.5 lakh. With a kidney gone, he can't do hard labour anymore to earn a living. "I could not properly treat my son. He has a hole in the heart. We got only Rs 1.50 lakh. Now I have health issues. I can no longer lift heavy stuff and often feel tired," said Mr Das.