What in the toe is going on here! People in Zimbabwe rumoured to be selling their toes...

What in the toe is going on here?!

We guess singing this little piggy (the toe version) won't be fun anymore...

Person cutting their toe off
Person cutting their toe off/Twitter/@InnocentZikky

We have heard about some crazy stories before, but this has got to be the most bizarre and saddest if it's actually true. 

People selling their body parts, organs or body reproductions has all been done, but amidst it all, we rarely hear of people selling their toes for money...

Well, until now. 

A recent hoo-ha about many Zimbabweans selling their toes for large amounts of money to beat poverty has created a stir online. 

"It is not uncommon for body parts to be used in unscrupulous traditional so-called cures. Touted by charlatans or fake healers, they are associated with witchcraft - and are condemned by respected traditional healers, known as "sangomas" in southern Africa." (BBC)

But the amounts involved are anything but small, with some saying that the big toe retails at $40,000, $25,000 for the middle toe, and $10,000 for a baby toe. 

It seems that the Zimbabwean press have not covered anything surrounding the allegations, and after some digging, it has been revealed that what was posted as a joke has been blown out of proportion. 

"The BBC Disinformation Unit reviewed two videos said to be of people who had sold their toes or were in the process of selling their toes and believes they were staged. But these social media trends sometimes have real-world implications as they can be believed and replicated." (BBC)

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Just another example of how a 'joke' (an inappropriate one at that) can turn into something more serious.

Check out some of the tweets surrounding the rumours:

This one is not for sensitive viewers. Courtesy of Twitter

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Image Courtesy of Twitter

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