Organ Trafficking: Village in Nepal Known as 'Kidney Village'

You probably have already made the “joke” that you would sell a kidney in order to buy some luxury goods. However, for those who do not know, organ sales and trafficking are realities that reach many communities around the world. In Nepal, for example, there is a community where many people have sold their own kidney in order to survive.

The small village of Hokse, 50 km from Kathmandu, is constantly being visited by organ traffickers who promise absurd things to residents. The place became known as the “Kid's Village, ” as many residents there sold their organs at prices far below even black market standards.

We have already reported here that a kidney can reach up to $ 260, 000 in international trafficking, but residents of Hokse receive only $ 2, 000 for "trade." This when they receive: there are common abductions of people and organs in the region. The surgeries are usually done in India, a few kilometers from the village.

Hokse is 50 km from Kathmandu and close to India where kidney extractions are done

“Grow another in place”

Traffickers use all sorts of arguments to persuade residents to sell their organs. They say that the human body only needs one kidney to function and that once removed another kidney would grow in place. Some people believe in these fudge, such as 37-year-old Geeta.

Mother of four, Geeta has always refused to sell one of her kidneys. But with the family growing, she eventually gave in to pressure to give her family more comfort. “I always wanted my own house and a piece of land. And with more kids, I really needed that, ”he explains.

The woman sold her kidney for $ 2, 000, bought a better house, and went to live there with her children. However, the strong earthquake that struck the country on April 25 destroyed Geeta's dream and tore down her house, leaving her homeless and without kidney. She is now living in a makeshift shack.

Geeta sold her kidney for $ 2, 000 to buy a house that was destroyed by the April 25 earthquake.

Increased Alcoholism

The Nepal earthquake exposed the region's ills, leaving the village even more vulnerable to the action of organ traffickers. “People are feeling insecurity and fear in the places they are living. They see a lot of new faces every day, but some people have been identified as human traffickers who are trying to attract people with promises of good jobs and a better life in foreign countries, ”explains Laxman Lamichhane, lawyer and coordinator of the Human Rights Forum. Human Rights Protection in Nepal.

These job offers usually take people to India, where they lose their kidneys and return home with just $ 150 dollars. “They gave me an injection that made me unconscious for 24 hours. When I woke up, I was in a hospital bed and had taken my kidney, ”says Ganesh Bahamur Damai, a victim of traffickers.

Upon returning to Hokse, many of these deceived people end up gossiping other villagers. Because of this, problems like alcoholism are growing among the inhabitants. Even though the Nepalese government passed a law in 2007 banning the sale of kidneys, it is believed that the practice is expected to increase following the earthquake that devastated the country.

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