Kidney trade victims join campaign

Kavre, May 19

Victims of illegal kidney trade have joined awareness programmes against the trade so that the locals of Kavre can be aware of the racket.

Earlier, victims would keep their stories hidden, afraid that their family and society would shun them.

However, they participated in an interaction held by Forum for Protection of People’s Rights at Hokse and Jyagdi VDCs of the district, discussing the adverse effects on their health after selling their kidneys.

PPR Director Satish Sharma said, “The campaign has become a great success after victims started sharing their stories. We are confident that the illegal organ trade will end.”

Naba Raj Mijar of Jyagdi-6, who sold his kidney 19 years ago, said, “I used to hide the scar on my body from everyone, but now I have been raising awareness against the trade.”

All participants were struck dumb when he showed the eight-inch long scar across his belly at a function held at the district headquarters in Dhulikhel. He said that a broker had forced him to sell his kidney after taking him to New Delhi with the promise of a good job.

Ram Kumar Pariyar of Jyagdi, who sold his kidney 13 years ago, accused Binod Pariyar of Patalekhet of forcing him to sell his kidney by promising him a well-paying job in Chandigarh. “I have been facing many health complications since,” he said.

Former kidney traders Ganesh Pariyar and Amik Pariyar expressed their commitment not to be involved in the trade ever again, saying that they will not let anyone else put their lives at such risk.

Kavre, once popularly known as the ‘Bank of Kidney’ is now completely free of illegal kidney trade. No incident has been reported since March last year in the district.

The PPR released a data that said that 112 people in Hokse, 102 in Panchkhal, and 56 in Jyagdi VDC had sold their kidney so far, and three times as many women as men had sold their organs.

The district witnessed a dramatic fall in such incidents after Nepal Police held and remanded 10 people accused of smuggling to custody for investigation in mid-April 2014.

The accused will be charged with human trafficking and face up to 10 years in jail or a fine of Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, or both. Half of the total fine will be awarded to the victims.