Women plan to sell kidneys to free spouses from jails

Six women from Karimnagar district asked the Andhra Pradesh State Human Rights Commission for permission on Monday to sell their kidneys to raise enough ‘blood money’  for the release of their husbands jailed in Dubai.

The six women belonging to different parts of Karimnagar district arrived at the SHRC here and petitioned the SHRC for permission. Their husbands, who are construction workers, have been convicted for the murder of a Nepali guard. They are  serving sentences in a Dubai jail for seven years. Five of them have been sentenced for 24 years and one for 10 years.

The wives here believe that they were innocent but did not get legal aid. Quoting the Shariat law of Dubai, they said in their petition that the kin of the dead person may pardon the accused on receipt of compensation known as 'blood money.' The SHRC has issued notices to state government principal secretary Minnie Mathews, the NRI cell in the general administration department and the Protector of Immigrants of the ministry of overseas Indian affairs to submit reports by Janurary 17.

The women are Sivaratri Rajavva, wife of  S Mallesh, S Rena, wife of S Ravi, Ellavva, wife of Nampelli Venkati, D Padma, wife of Laxman, S Padma, wife of S Hanumanthu and Reshma, wife of Syed Kareem. Rajavva said the Nepali guard’s wife had agreed to condone the crime if she was paid Rs 15 lakh. The guard’s wife made the offer after the Indian consulate in Dubai held negotiations with her.

Padma said “we have no money even to feed our children since our husbands left for the Gulf and we are not in a position to arrange such a huge amount for their release. Our earlier pleas to the state and the central governments for help evoked no response, so please permit us to sell our kidneys,” she pleaded.

According to Bhim Reddy, who spoke for the women, the commission had been told that the Kerala and Punjab governments and some philanthropists had offered financial assistance in a similar case. “These women want the state government to at least pay a portion of the release amount while Sircilla legislator and TRS leader K T Rama Rao and other leaders from Karimnagar had agreed to share the burden.