"I want sell my kidney. I am a 37-year-old married woman ... I have no money for my son's studies and I have family problems. So can you help me sir? It's very urgent ... My blood group is B positive,'' says an email sent to transplant surgeons in Chennai on May 25.
Anyone caught buying or selling organs can be jailed for up to seven years, with or without a fine of Rs 20,000, according to the Transplant of Human Organs Act and Rules, 1994.
But desperation, more than ignorance, is driving many people to break the law, especially during the college admission season.
Dr Sunil Shroff, who heads MOHAN Foundation, a non-government organization that campaigns for cadaver donations, says the emails are a new trend.
"Higher education is so expensive and parents get desperate. These are people who are not illiterate or very poor. Earlier most people who offered to sell organs (through middlemen) were below poverty line, trying to repay loans or marry off their daughters," he said.
These mails, doctors say, will subside once the college admissions are over, but people may continue to email them for other reasons.
They leave phone numbers and expect a call. Like this one received by organ registry: "Sir, I like to sell my kidney to anyone because of my family situation. Feel free to contact 09*********.
Some transplant surgeons say they dread to think what would happen if these people contact organ brokers.
Officials at the state transplant registry say that they have been receiving at least one email every two days regarding organ sale.
"We call and counsel every person who mails us. We tell them it is illegal to offer organs for sale. We also talk to them about the medical complications," says Dr J Amalorpavanathan, who heads the state cadaver transplant authority.
As a long term plan, the authority is planning a series of awareness programmes on benefits of cadaver donations and the need to stop trafficking. The state authority will also network with NGOs, doctors, hospitals and police to stop the illegal trade.
"People approach brokers only when the organ isn't available. Once we increase cadaver donations, people will not go to the black market. It's a long process, but an achievable one," he said.
Anyone caught buying or selling organs can be jailed for up to seven years, with or without a fine of Rs 20,000, according to the Transplant of Human Organs Act and Rules, 1994.
But desperation, more than ignorance, is driving many people to break the law, especially during the college admission season.
Dr Sunil Shroff, who heads MOHAN Foundation, a non-government organization that campaigns for cadaver donations, says the emails are a new trend.
"Higher education is so expensive and parents get desperate. These are people who are not illiterate or very poor. Earlier most people who offered to sell organs (through middlemen) were below poverty line, trying to repay loans or marry off their daughters," he said.
These mails, doctors say, will subside once the college admissions are over, but people may continue to email them for other reasons.
They leave phone numbers and expect a call. Like this one received by organ registry: "Sir, I like to sell my kidney to anyone because of my family situation. Feel free to contact 09*********.
Some transplant surgeons say they dread to think what would happen if these people contact organ brokers.
Officials at the state transplant registry say that they have been receiving at least one email every two days regarding organ sale.
"We call and counsel every person who mails us. We tell them it is illegal to offer organs for sale. We also talk to them about the medical complications," says Dr J Amalorpavanathan, who heads the state cadaver transplant authority.
As a long term plan, the authority is planning a series of awareness programmes on benefits of cadaver donations and the need to stop trafficking. The state authority will also network with NGOs, doctors, hospitals and police to stop the illegal trade.
"People approach brokers only when the organ isn't available. Once we increase cadaver donations, people will not go to the black market. It's a long process, but an achievable one," he said.
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