Transplant crime: Three in custody for ‘stealing’ woman’s kidney

Ayesha, the complainant, told police her kidney was stolen after she was kidnapped.

LAHORE:

A judicial magistrate remanded three suspects in police custody for allegedly stealing a woman’s kidney.

The court gave Sanaullah, Amjad Hussain and Yasin in police custody for four days.

Ayesha Saeed, the complainant, earlier told police that she was kidnapped by Sanaullah from Shahpur Adda in his car and taken to Noor Clinic in Sahiwal. “When I woke up, I found stitches on my lower abdomen. I learned that one of my kidneys had been removed,” she told police.



“I needed money to fight my husband’s case who is in prison. So I demanded money from Sanaullah for my kidney. However, he refused to do so. I then contacted police,” she said.

According to police, Ayesha’s kidney was removed in September. “Our investigation has revealed that Ayesha agreed to have her kidney removed because she needed money. She accused the doctor and his staff of kidnapping her after they refused to pay her,” police said.

After the registration of the case, police arrested Sanaullah, Amjad Hussain (technician) and Yasin, the owner of Noor Clinic. “We are trying to arrest the remaining suspects who are nominated in the FIR. They are: Imranul Haq, Liaqat Ali, Naeem Ashraf and Quratul Ain,” police said.

Police said that Imranul Haq and Sanaullah had been nominated in another kidney transplant case in Lahore in 2011. “They were again nominated in a kidney transplant case in 2012 in Azad Kashmir after a man died while his kidney was being removed. They have three agents who persuade poor people to donate kidneys by offering them Rs200,000 to Rs300,000. The patient needing a transplant has to pay one to three million rupees. The agents also work for foreign organ recipients. In this case, a Nigerian man was to receive Ayesha’s kidney,” police said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3^rd, 2014.