MM: Farmer Sell the kidney for the future of two children: March 24, 2008

I came to sell my kidney so that my two children could have a future…

Farmer Vishnu Baburao Sarode from Vidarbha came to Mumbai last Wednesday to sell his kidney to pay off a steep debt and to ensure his childrens future; he fortunately met the right people who gave him Rs 5,000 and sent him back home …ANAND HOLLA

Adebt-ridden farmer from Vidarbha, who, in desperation, travelled to Mumbai to sell his kidney so that he could ensure a good future for his children and take care of his ailing wife, was saved by a lawyer in the nick of time.

Vishnu Baburao Sarode, 50, a resident of Javala village in Ahmednagar, landed in Mumbai on Wednesday hoping to sell his kidney for some much-needed cash.
Before leaving home, he had promised his wife Bhaamabai that his trip to Mumbai wouldnt be futile.

But once in Mumbai, I didnt know where to begin. I decided to visit hospitals, where I could sell my kidney for good money, said Sarode, who has a deformity in his right leg and has a useless left hand. Sarode, who belongs to the Dalit community, earns around Rs 30 a day.

When he reached Mumbai, he went to the house of a friend who lives in Kurla.

The next day Sarode left home telling his friend he was busy arranging for some money and then went missing for two days. He spent the next two days doing the rounds of Sion Hospital and Parels KEM Hospital, asking everyone from the watchman to intern doctors about whom to contact to sell his kidney.

At both hospitals, I kept pleading with whoever I came across, asking them who I should contact. But everybody ignored my queries and told me to leave. When I asked the relatives of the patients who sleep outside on benches, they looked scared, asking me to keep mum and not get involved in such dangerous plans, Sarode recounted.

With only Rs 10 note left in his pocket, a confused Sarode slept on the KEM Hospital premises through Thursday night. By Friday morning, Sarode had realised he was headed nowhere and returned to his friends home.

His friend then contacted lawyer Vikas Kharat, who hails from the same village. Kharat took the farmer to his Ghatkopar residence and kept him there for two days convincing him against selling his kidney. On Sunday, he gave Sarode Rs 5,000 and sent him back home.

Fortunately, Sarode wasnt able to sell his kidney. We can only hope that God is kind to him and his family and his problems are soon solved.

THE DEBT TRAP

Sarode took a loan of Rs 7,000 last year from local moneylenders for buying fresh seeds and other farming essentials. The loan amount has now grown to a whopping Rs 21,000 due to heavy interest. Sarode is unable to repay the debt. Now, some villagers are even trying to take possession of our house. They have tethered their bullocks and goats outside my house, Sarode said.

KIDNEY IDEA CAME FROM THE NEWS

Sarode claims he got the idea of selling his kidney after watching news telecasts about Dr Amit, the alleged kingpin of the kidney racket busted recently. I saw this doctor doing transplants for lakhs of rupees, and I didnt mind if a doctor gave me a few thousands. My fellow villagers told me that if I go to government hospitals in Mumbai, agents and touts will strike a deal. But I was heartbroken when I did not find a single such agent here, Sarode said. Sarode can only grow bajra or jowar on his two-acre land and that too only during the three months. But the rains have been infrequent since the past five years, Kharat said.
Sarode said, I am old, handicapped and cannot work. But I want my children to be happy and successful. I was doing all this for them, Sarode said.
Sarodes wife Bhamabai is mentally ill, while his son Pundalik, 9, and daughter Shobha, 11, study in the village school.

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