In a shocking incident, the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in New Delhi — one of India’s most reputed hospitals — have admitted of removing kidneys of organ-trafficking victims. A hospital spokesman told The Telegraph that they did it unintentionally, believing that the victims were donating their organs to relatives.
The police have so far arrested five people in connection with the racket. Out of these five, two are assistants to doctors at the hospital.
The gang allegedly lured the poor people in the hospital to sell their kidneys for Rs 3 lakh. They again sold the organs keeping huge margins of profit, said police. They made the victims pretend to be relatives of needy transplant recipients by making forged documents and fooling the hospital officials.
The victims who had their kidneys removed belongs from Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. The police have seized fake id proofs, CDs, and documents from the five people arrested.
Commercial trade of organs is illegal in India and transplant of organs to non-relatives must be approved by a special committee.
However, there is a major shortage of organs available for transplant and that is why the orans have a huge demand in the black market. These black markets are thriving in the country owing to the growth in kidney related diseases, particularly diabetes.
Meanwhile, the AAP government of Delhi has set up a five-member panel to probe into the matter and submit an interim report within 15 days. They will investigate whether there were any procedural lapses on the hospital’s behalf.
A senior government official told The Indian Express, “Special panel will investigate whether laid down approval protocols were followed by the hospital. It will also re-examine the documentation and interview process by the authorisation committee of the hospital concerned.”
Organ Trafficking has a big market in India owing to its poor population, who are not aware and educated enough to know the medical procedure.
The Logical Indian community requests the state and central government to look into these matters happening all over the country and put an end to it. Poors are biggest victim of it.
