Khawrai Gul, an Afghan woman in Herat, has sold one of her kidneys to pay the loans of her husband.

Gul, 28, is a native of nearby Faryab province, but has sought refuge in Herat province amid the war and other violence. She said she did not have any other option except to sell her kidney and to pay the loans of her husband who was in Taliban custody.

The Taliban has not commented.

“I had been pregnant for 50 days on the day I gave my kidney—I didn’t tell the doctors that I was pregnant, because I had to do it,” said Khawrai Gul.

“I didn’t know the person to whom I gave my kidney, but he was from Afghanistan,” she said. “I had given blood tests before. Later the doctors called me and asked me to come and give my kidney to a person, so I went there and gave the kidney,” said Khawrai Gul.

“I was taken to a mountain because of the debts, then my wife had no option except to go to Luqman-e-Hakim hospital to sell her kidney,” said Amruddin, the husband of Khawrai Gul.

The Ministry of Public Health has said that the sale and purchase of organs is illegal, and hospitals that are involved in illegal organ transplants will be prosecuted and their licenses can be revoked.

This comes a week after TOLOnews reported that hundreds of poor and displaced people have sold their vital organs for a small price in the western province of Herat.

Confirmed figures show that over 1,000 kidneys have been traded in Herat over the last five years. Over 100 of such people who have sold their kidneys are living in the Se Shanba Bazar village in Injil district in Herat, and are relatives of one another. They said they succumbed to the business offer for their organs due to poverty and unemployment.

Some women and children are among those who have sold kidneys. Six residents of the village, who were displaced from neighboring Badghis province, said they sold their kidneys due to poverty. They were paid $300,000 Afs ($3,800) each.

Later on, local officials said that they have assigned a task team to probe the issue in Herat.
In Herat, two hospitals–Luqman-e-Hakim and Aria Afghan–are carrying out the kidney transplants.