Lankan women sell kidneys to repay loan sharks

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan war widows and women in former conflict zones are being forced to sell their kidneys to pay loan sharks, a UN expert said Tuesday, urging government intervention.

Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky, the UN´s independent expert on effects of debt on human rights, said that debt collectors were also demanding sexual favours. "Women are at times exposed to psychological and physical violence by these collectors ...," he said in a statement.