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Wife's kidney sold for tractor
27/02/2007 11:01 - (SA)
Islamabad - Police in central Pakistan have registered a criminal case against a farmer who allegedly sold his wife's kidney to purchase a tractor, a newspaper report said on Tuesday.
The woman told officials in the central Bahawalpur district that doctors discovered the removal of the organ while treating her for a urinary tract infection she contracted after the unlawful surgery, the Daily Times said.
The victim, who was married three years ago, was operated on at a local hospital after developing complications from an earlier miscarriage.
She claimed she lost the child because of an alleged beating by her husband, who is accused of later colluding with doctors to remove the kidney without her knowledge.
Poverty-stricken Pakistanis can earn around US$1 000 selling kidneys, although most of the proceeds are pocketed by middlemen and doctors.
With no legal regulation of the organ trade, transplants cost as little as $5 000 compared with $100 000 dollars charged in the United States.
Authorities are contemplating a ban on the unchecked trade in human organs and the introduction of a mechanism to regulate transplants and heavy fines for violations.
Pakistan has become a favourite destination for "medical tourism" and especially attracts patients from the Middle East after neighbouring India placed a ban on the controversial practice a decade ago.
- SAPA
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