ALAMGIR HOSSAIN 
 
 Rita Haldar. (Samim Aktar) 
 
 
 
 Farakka: A homemaker in Murshidabad's Lalgola has lodged a police complaint, accusing her husband and in-laws of getting her right kidney removed in exchange for money on the pretext of an appendicitis operation at a Calcutta nursing home two years back. 
 
 Rita Haldar, a 28-year-old homemaker, lodged the complaint with the Farakka police on February 2, naming her husband Biswajit Sarkar, mother-in-law and brother-in-law. 
 
 When the woman had complained of an abdomen pain two years ago, Sarkar discussed the matter with his mother and brother and took her to Calcutta for treatment. 
 
 "Before going to the doctor in Calcutta, we had put up at a relative's house. I was given soft drink at the home, after which I felt drowsy. We went to a nursing home to consult the doctor who told me that I needed immediate operation for appendicitis. The next day, I was operated on," said Rita. 
 
 After a few months, the homemaker started feeling unwell. "I went to Siliguri to visit a cousin. I started having a lower back pain and visited a doctor at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) who prescribed an ultra-sonography. The USG revealed my right kidney is missing. I was shattered," said Rita. 
 
 The woman who has an 11-year-old son underwent another USG at a nursing home in Malda and confirmed that her right kidney was missing. 
 
 Both the USG reports say: "Right kidney not visualised." The Telegraph is in possession of the two reports. 
 
 The USG reports also revealed that Rita's left kidney had become enlarged. "Doctors at the NBMCH told me that there was infection in the left kidney," said Rita. 
 
 Inspector-in-charge of Farakka, Udayshankar Ghosh, said: "We suspect the involvement of a racket. A case was registered under provisions of the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act. We have also charged three persons with attempt to murder and bride torture." 
 
 Contacted, her husband, Sarkar, a trader, said his wife had donated a kidney to a person from Raipur in Chhattisgarh. "She had even signed a consent letter," he added.# 
 
 Asked how he had got in touch with the Raipur person, he disconnected the phone. 
 
 Told about her husband's claim that she had donated her kidney, Rita said: "I knew nothing about this. I was definitely drugged and don't remember signing any paper." 

 Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The victim alleges she had her kidney removed without her knowledge 
 
 An Indian woman's husband and brother-in-law have been arrested after she told police they stole one of her kidneys in lieu of a dowry. 
 
 Local media report that the West Bengal woman's husband arranged an appendicitis surgery when she was suffering stomach pain two year ago. 
 
 Late in 2017, two separate medical examinations revealed she was in fact missing one of her kidneys. 
 
 She alleges that her husband had frequently made demands for a dowry. 
 
 The payment of dowries - traditionally paid from a bride's family to a husband's - has been banned in India since 1961. 
 
 Speaking to Indian media, the alleged victim, Rita Sarkar, said she had been the victim of domestic abuse over the dowry issue for many years. 
 
 "My husband took me to a private nursing home in Kolkata, where he and the medical staff told me that I would be fine after removing my inflamed appendix through surgery," the Hindustan Times quoted her as saying. 
 
 "My husband warned me not to disclose the surgery in Kolkata to anyone." 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption In Cairo, the BBC spoke to those involved in the illegal kidney trade 
 
 Months later, she was feeling unwell and taken to a doctor by members of her family. Scans then revealed her right kidney was missing, she said. A second medical exam confirmed the diagnosis. 
 
 "I then understood why my husband implored me to keep quiet about the surgery," she told the Hindustan Times. 
 
 "He sold my kidney because my family couldn't meet his demand for dowry." 
 
 The Telegraph India newspaper quoted police inspector Udayshankar Ghosh as saying: "We suspect the involvement of a racket." 
 
 "A case was registered under provisions of the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act. We have also charged three persons with attempt to murder and bride torture."
– An Indian man is in police custody after allegedly stealing one of his wife's kidneys to serve as a dowry. When she complained of stomach pain two years ago, Rita Sarkar, 28, says her husband arranged a visit to a private nursing home in Kolkata, where the couple stayed with one of his relatives, per the BBC. Sarkar—who claims her husband abused her for years with demands for a dowry, though dowries are banned in India—says she was given a drink that made her feel drowsy, per the Telegraph of India. Later, a doctor at the nursing home "told me that I needed immediate operation for appendicitis," Sarkar says. "The next day, I was operated on." Months later while visiting family, she developing lower back pain and visited a hospital, where an ultrasound showed an infection in her left kidney. Her right kidney, however, was gone. "I was shattered," Sarkar tells the Telegraph. "I then understood why my husband implored me to keep quiet about the surgery," she adds, per the Hindustan Times. "He sold my kidney because my family couldn't meet his demand for dowry." Sarkar filed a police complaint on Friday naming Biswajit Sarkar, as well as his brother and mother. While the mother is reportedly on the run, the two men were arrested Monday and face charges including attempted murder and organ trafficking, reports the Hindustan Times. A police rep says they "suspect the involvement of a racket," adding "a special team has been formed to investigate." Reached by the Telegraph, Biswajit Sarkar said his wife had donated a kidney willingly and "even signed a consent letter." But Rita Sarkar says "I was definitely drugged and don't remember signing any paper." (This is part of a larger issue.)