The Komarapalayam police on Saturday arrested two woman touts on charges of harassing a woman weaver to sell her kidney despite her refusal to do so.
In a complaint, N. Sekar of Komarapalayam said that Prema and Eswari of Gandhipuram had approached him requesting his wife Thangamani to sell her kidney for Rs. 3 lakh. Sekar and Thangamani were to be taken to Sri Lanka for harvesting the kidney and medical tests were done at a hospital in Chennai. However, the tests revealed that she was not in good health to donate the organ.
Therefore, Thangamani refused to donate her kidney and the travel plan was cancelled. However, Prema and Eswari said that they had spent more than Rs. 40,000 for the tests and asked the couple to repay the amount.
The touts even took the couple to Chennai and met a person called Shankar to negotiate. But, the couple refused to pay and returned to Komarapalayam. The touts then went to their house and threatened the couple.
Police registered a case and arrested Prema and Easwari in this connection. They were produced at the court and lodged in the Salem Central Prison. A special team has been formed to apprehend Shankar.
Labourers in Pallipalayam and Komarapalayam in the district are reportedly being targeted by touts to sell their kidneys for meagre sums. Mounting debts and drop in income are believed to be the main reasons behind labourers selling their organs. The Komarapalayam police had registered the first case of kidney racket in January 2007 and arrested many touts.
