India:Police in southern India are investigating reports that poverty-stricken survivors of the Indian Ocean tsunami sold their kidneys because of the slow pace of renovation after the disaster. Up to 150 people, mainly women around the city of Chennai, in Tamil Nadu, are believed to have sold their organs for 50,000 rupees (€870) in the past few months.
The tsunami in 2004 killed thousands of people and left tens of thousands destitute.
The authorities first became aware of the kidney problem when a public meeting in Ernavur heard complaints that some people had been forced to sell their organs to raise money during the past two years.
"We were listening to people tell us that they had had their kidneys removed for money, because they were facing dire poverty," said Miloon Kothari of the UN human rights council. "It was shocking. Even worse, some of these operations had been carried out in government hospitals." - ( Guardian service )