Indian doctors accused in 'arms-for-alms' scandal

Indian doctors accused in 'arms-for-alms' scandal

A television sting claimed to expose a thriving "arms-for-alms" trade in India yesterday when journalists apparently caught doctors on screen agreeing to amputate the limbs of beggars for as little as 10,000 rupees (£125).

An investigation by the CNN-IBN news channel showed three doctors taking money from the reporters, who said they were looking for medics to amputate beggars' limbs. There appears to be a thriving trade in Delhi where gangs kidnap beggars and force them to undergo surgery so that their deformities attract sympathy.

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What a vile article and practice....

[edit on 31-7-2006 by loam]

you can find the absolute best and worst of human behavior in all it's capacity in India. I have heard stories that I don't even want to think about again of horrors that the impoverished in India face.

This sort of thing actually isn't exclusive to India.

I knew of a fella (aptly) named Bonecrusher, in Chicago. He made deals with bums, agreeing to break their legs so that they could jump in front of cars on '___', get side-swiped, and collect settlements based on their injuries - then Bonecrusher would take a percentage.

It's pretty amazing what people will do for a buck.

Here it is, found an article...

www.insurancefraud.org...

To fellow gang members, Michael Garner was known as “Bonecrusher.”

And for good reason. If police are right, the Chicago man used a crude wooden club to break the arms and legs of desperate homeless people, pay them a little cash and beer, then fleece auto insurers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars with bogus injury claims from staged vehicle accidents.

Bonecrusher and his six-man gang prowled around Chicago’s homeless shelters, recruiting alcoholics and drug addicts desperate for a fast buck. It was an easy sell: They’d offer a homeless man thousands in cash. He just had to let Bonecrusher “bump” his arm or leg, and then pose as the injured victim of a staged crash.

[edit on 31-7-2006 by WyrdeOne]