In a heart-wrenching incident, Raju Bengali, a daily wage labourer and resident of Bahadhur Bagicha Pada in Bhawanipatna town sold off the kidney of his wife to raise money for their daughter’s marriage.
His family struggles to make ends meet and after all efforts to arrange money failed, he chose to take the step. The couple was paid Rs3 lakh by a middleman for selling the vital organ.
The woman is not alone; there is a kidney racket going on in the area, with news that two more persons have also sold off their kidneys to the middleman. Extreme poverty in Kalahandi district is being exploited by unscrupulous persons, who are snaring poor people to sell their kidneys, said sources.
According to sources, the middleman has high connections and is related to a politician of the area. With the help of two youths from the neighbouring Medinipore area, the kingpin is running the racket in cahoots with top hospitals in Cuttack and Visakhapatnam, the sources said.