An incident of organ stealing is being investigated by Kolkata Police after the kin of a three-year-old boy lodged a complaint against SSKM Hospital, one of the government-run multi-speciality hospitals, for allegedly extracting his eyes.
The boy was admitted in a critical condition after he met with an accident on Tuesday. He was later declared dead.
The relatives are suspecting the active involvement of illegal organ traffickers in this entire case. Though the hospital in their defence said, "The chances of the eyes being taken out were slim. They explained the eyelids were stitched up mostly because of extensive injuries the boy had suffered. Owing to the orbital damage, the eyes might have come off during the journey back home from the hospital."
A billion dollar industry
The illegal organ trafficking industry is thriving and hounding the healthcare industry of the nation for decades. Even after laying down multiple restrictive measures things have not really changed. The nexus is strong and deep-rooted within the healthcare ecosystem of our country.
According to reports, only one out of 300 kidney patients receives a kidney in India, others wait for their turn patiently.
Approximately Rs 250 crore illegal kidney trafficking industry is flourishing on the massive gap between demand and supply which is prevalent in this industry and created due to lack of awareness and acute failure of government machinery.
The pimps and quacks are in alliance with some of the doctors are running a professional network of organ trafficking in India by dodging the clutches of the law.
The Kolkata connect
The kidney racket busted in 2016 at Apollo Hospital in New Delhi had opened the can of worms and revealed the dark underbelly of the healthcare industry in India.
The course of the investigation brought the investigators to Kolkata and they apprehended the kingpin of the scam T Rajukumar Rao.
The reports divulged that almost all the 48 hospitals in Kolkata have an illegal organ transplant network. Kolkata is one of the biggest illegal organ transplant markets because observers believe it caters to a massive pool of patients that pours in from neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and Nepal.
In his confession Rao, the kingpin of the racket told cops that this network spanned over several countries like Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Singapore.
