Some villagers in Hokse, a remote village in Nepal, have been lured into selling their kidneys with a promise that they would regrow.

Hokse, once notoriously known as “Kidney Valley,” because someone from almost every household has sold his/her kidney.

Brokers visit the area and persuade people to part with an organ, even though it is illegal.

Now, the victims say they feel duped and exploited, claiming they were even told their kidneys would regrow.

Some have died as a result of what was done to their bodies.

Kanchha and Ram, both in their 40s, lift their shirts to reveal wide scars on their bodies. They both sold their kidneys, driven by financial desperation.

Kanchha told SkyNews he is still in pain and unable to work because of the side effects from the surgery.

“It’s impossible to count how many have done it,” Kanchha says. “Everywhere, this village, that village, so many people have sold their kidneys.”

Now the situation in Hokse has reached a critical point, with an alarming number of young migrant men returning to the village with a failing kidney and in urgent need of kidney transplants.

Some scientists attribute this phenomenon to the harsh working conditions abroad due to exposure to extreme heat and severe dehydration.

One of such migrant, Suman, recalls his experience of selling his kidney in India out of sheer desperation.

Suman said he was driven to the brink of financial and emotional collapse and he considered ending his life.

He felt he had “no option” but to travel to India to sell his kidney to a woman pretending to be his sister and he was paid £3,000 for it.

“I felt weak and I lost consciousness,” Suman says. “When I woke up, it was really hurting. Now I can’t work and I try to tell anyone I can, not to sell their kidney.”

Kanchha said his “agents made fake documents in Kathmandu, including Indian ID cards…My kidney was given to a fake sister. I think the doctor in India knew I’d sold it.”

While Jit Bahadur Gurung, 29, worked in Saudi Arabia for three years, he now needs to undergo four hours of dialysis at the National Kidney Centre in Kathmandu, three times a week.

Even with the legal prohibitions in place, organ trafficking is still a major problem worldwide, as well as in India.

Investigations into illicit “cash for kidney” schemes have revealed the complicity of doctors and hospitals in perpetuating this black market trade. It is estimated that globally, one in 10 transplanted organs have been trafficked.

Although Nepal locals insist that kidney sales have ceased, some residents continue to take desperate risks in pursuit of a better life. (The Guardian)

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