A homemaker in Murshidabad's Lalgola has lodged a police complaint, accusing her husband and in-laws of getting her right kidney removed in exchange for money on the pretext of an appendicitis operation at a Calcutta nursing home two years back.
In her complaint, 28-year-old Rita Sarkar said her husband Biswajit took her to a private nursing home in Kolkata two years ago where, on the pretext of an appendix operation, her kidney was removed.
In addition to claiming that she was tortured by her husband of 12 years and in-laws on several occasions for failing to pay Rs 2 lakh in dowry, the complainant has also alleged that the accused took advantage of her appendicitis to steal one of her kidneys.
She claims that the theft occurred when she was taken to a private hospital in Kolkata in 2016 after she complained of intense stomach ache. Once the medical staff at the hospital assured her that she would be fine once her inflamed appendix is removed through surgery, her kidney was allegedly removed by the medical professionals operating on her.
When she complained of acute pain after the surgery, her husband reportedly warned her against revealing the details of the surgery to anyone in Kolkata.
However, when relatives from her parents’ side took her to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital for a check-up, it was revealed that she was missing a kidney. She then sought a second opinion in Malda and was told the same.
Upon discovering that her husband allegedly sold her kidney because her family could not afford to pay him the promised dowry, the victim filed a complaint with the Farakka police station in northern Bengal naming her husband, her brother-in-law and her sister-in-law as the accused.
The husband and his brother were arrested on Monday, inspector Udayshankar Roy said.
They were charged under Section 19 (punishment for commercial dealings in human organs) and Section 21 (offences by companies involved in any such act) of the Transplantation of Human Organs Act and IPC sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 498 (detaining a married woman with criminal intent).
Latest reports suggest that the men arrested by the police have confessed to selling the woman’s kidney to a businessman in Chhattisgarh. They have also hinted at the involvement of an organ-smuggling racket in the case
India has strict anti-dowry laws. Still, domestic violence and heinous crimes against women are commonplace as the dowry demand often continues for years, especially in rural areas where a daughter is considered a liability.
