Indian woman's kidney allegedly stolen over failure to meet dowry demand

KOLKATA - An Indian woman's kidney was allegedly stolen because she was unable to pay dowry to her husband, the BBC has reported.

Ms Ritu Sarkar's husband and brother-in-law have now been arrested after she filed a police complaint.

The theft is understood to have occurred when she was suffering from stomach pain two years ago and her husband organised an appendicitis surgery.

But it was only discovered in late 2017, when two separate medical examinations revealed that she was missing one of her kidneys.

Speaking to the media, Ms Sarkar said she had been the victim of domestic abuse for many years, with her husband making frequent demands for a dowry.

"My husband took me to a private nursing home in Kolkata, where he and the medical staff told me that I would be fine after removing my inflamed appendix through surgery," the Hindustan Times quoted her as saying.

"My husband warned me not to disclose the surgery in Kolkata to anyone."

She says she realised why he told her this after it was discovered her right kidney was missing. "He sold my kidney because my family couldn't meet his demand for dowry," said Ms Sarkar.

Daily newspaper The Telegraph quoted police inspector Udayshankar Ghosh as saying: "We suspect the involvement of a racket."

"A case was registered under provisions of the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act. We have also charged three persons with attempt to murder and bride torture."

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.