Penis removal

In ancient civilizations, removal of the human penis was sometimes used as a means of demonstrating superiority: armies were sometimes known to sever the penises of their enemies to count the dead, as well as for trophies, although usually only the foreskins were taken.^[1] The practice of castration (removal of the testicles) sometimes also involves the removal of all or part of the penis, generally with a tube inserted to keep the urethra open for urination. Castration has been used to create a class of servants or slaves (and especially harem-keepers) called eunuchs (Greek Ευνούχοι) in many different places and eras.

In the modern era, removal of the human penis is very rare (with some exceptions listed below), and references to removal of the penis are almost always symbolic. Castration is not so rare, and is performed as a last-ditch method of treatment of androgen sensitive prostate cancer.^[2][3][4]

In addition to the below examples, there have been instances in the 21st century in which captives in Iraq and Yemen have been castrated.^[5][6]

Human penis removal in medicine and psychology

Some men have penile amputations, known as penectomies, for medical reasons. Cancer, for example, sometimes necessitates removal of all or part of the penis. In some instances, botched childhood circumcisions have also resulted in full or partial penectomies.^{[citation needed]}

Genital surgical procedures for transwomen (transgender or transsexual women) undergoing sex reassignment surgery, do not usually involve the complete removal of the penis; part or all of the glans is usually kept and reshaped as a clitoris, and the skin of the penile shaft may also be inverted to form the vagina. When procedures such as this are not possible, other procedures such as colovaginoplasty are used which do involve the removal of the penis.

Issues related to the removal of the penis appear in psychology, for example in the condition known as castration anxiety. Others, who associate the organ with rape and male dominance and aggression, may consciously or subconsciously see the organ (their own or those of others) as a weapon and express a hatred for it, potentially desiring to see it violently removed.

Some men have undergone penectomies as a voluntary body modification, thus including it as part of a body dysmorphic disorder. Professional opinion is divided regarding the desire for penile amputation as a pathology, much as all other forms of treatment by amputation for body dysmorphic disorder. Voluntary subincision, removal of the glans penis, and bifurcation of the penis are related topics.

Involuntary penis removal (assault)

There have been incidents in which men have been assaulted, usually by their sexual partners, by having their penises severed. Lorena Bobbitt, for example, was popularly known for cutting off the penis of her husband, John Wayne Bobbitt, out of rage after he allegedly raped her, though he claimed it was for revenge when she discovered his infidelity. Bobbitt's penis was successfully reattached, and he later had a brief career in pornographic movies.

This was not the first modern case, however. On May 18, 1936, Sada Abe (also known as Abe Sada) strangled her lover (believed to be at his request, he wanted to die while having sex) Kichizo Ishida (Ishida Kichizo) and cut off his penis, placed it in her kimono and carried it around with her for days before eventually turning it over to the police. She spent a very brief time in jail, and was granted amnesty in 1940. The penis was last seen at a department store exhibition in 1949. This episode was the basis of the film In the Realm of the Senses.

Mutilation or forcible removal of the penis has special symbolic significance. As a symbol of male sexuality, fertility, and masculinity, the removal of the penis may be inspired by a desire to emasculate, and sometimes results in the emasculation of, the victim. Another motive, particularly in cases of spousal assault, is sexual.

Documented cases

The following are documented cases of men having their penises severed due to accident, spousal jealousy or self infliction (intentional or not):

• The penis of Napoleon was reportedly severed at his autopsy, and purloined: it was some years later sold to a urologist for $3,000.^[7]
• Grigori Rasputin's penis was severed in the assassination that ended his life on December 16, 1916 (O.S.): it was reported rescued, kept in a wooden box and much cherished by his daughter, Maria. It has reportedly been on display in various locations.
• The first documented case of a completely successful penis replantation, restoring full function, was performed at Massachusetts General Hospital by a team led by Dr. Hugh H. Young II, with fellow urologist Dr. John F.S. Daly and plastic surgeons Dr. Benjamin E. Cohen and Dr. James W. May. The case is documented in the February 1977 issue of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons journal, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
• In 1966, six-month old David Reimer's penis was destroyed during a botched circumcision using an electrocautery device. He was re-assigned as a girl. As a teenager, he underwent genital reconstructive surgery to restore his male organ. Years later, David committed suicide.^[8]
• In 1993, Lorena Bobbitt cut off the penis of her husband, John Wayne Bobbitt with a kitchen knife. It was surgically re-attached, and he subsequently became a porn star. She was found not liable and was sentenced to 45 days hospitalization.
• In 1994, the chinese newspaper Guangxi Daily reported that a man from Henan province was fined 3,000 yuan after his wife gave birth to her third child (a son, after two daughters), in violation of China's "one child per couple" population control laws. The father supposedly made a joke about the high cost of finally having a male heir, saying: "A 3,000 yuan fine just for this little penis! We should just cut it off." This prompted the two daughters to cut off the infant boy's penis with a paring knife and leave him to bleed to death while their father was away tending the fields. Upon his return, the father flew into a rage and clubbed the two girls to death with a shovel, then committed suicide by drinking insecticide. His wife "went into hysterics upon seeing the calamity, running naked through the streets screaming the names of her dead husband and children. However, it should be noted chinese newspapers are not quite the bastions of veracity their western counterparts are assumed to be.^[9]
• In 1996, March, a Vietnamese woman in Sydney, Australia attempted to cut off her husband's penis with scissors. By the time her husband, Tom Thong Tran, was rushed to the hospital, his penis was hanging by a thread. His wife, Tran Nhu Tran, pleaded guilty to malicious wounding after the prosecution agreed not to pursue a more serious charge of malicious wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Following her arrest, Ms. Tran was granted bail but ordered not to harass, molest, intimidate or interfere with her husband. She was also ordered not to come within 500 metres of the west Sydney home where the offence took place. At a later hearing, Ms. Tran changed her plea to not guilty, and her husband also told the judge that he has forgiven her and was no longer willing to testify against her.^[10][11]
• Earl Zea was prosecuted for filing a police report in 1997 that his penis was removed in an assault while asleep, only later admitting that it had been a self-inflicted move to deter a gay male stalker named Ronnie Fountain.^[12] Zea flushed his penis down the toilet. Both Zea and Fountain appeared on The Jerry Springer Show episode titled "I Cut Off My Manhood." Zea told Springer that he had reconstructive surgery after his penis could not be found. Fountain insisted that he and Zea had indeed had a sexual relationship, which Zea denied.
• In 1998, Kim Phuong Tran, 38, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in Vancouver, British Columbia, in June. Her husband allegedly was having an affair; she cut off his penis and flushed it down the toilet.^[13]
• In March 2001, in the town of Rotenburg, central Germany, cannibal Armin Meiwes, cut off and flambéed a man's penis, with his consent, and the two men ate it together. The other man, Bernd Jürgen Brandes was then killed by Meiwes, also with his consent. The song "Mein Teil" by Rammstein was inspired by the case.^[14]
• In January 2002, In Russia, Pavel Morozov, a player of Spartak football for disabled people, was murdered by his friend's girlfriend because he did not want to have sex with her.^[15] The friend invited Pavel over to his house to drink vodka with him and his girlfriend. The girlfriend made advances towards Pavel but as he did not reciprocate them she became upset and started hitting him and screaming. Pavel's friend came over to see what was going on. He might have started hitting Pavel as well. Pavel ended up unconscious on the floor. The girlfriend then unzipped Pavel's pants and cut off his penis. She then stabbed him in the chest. Pavel's body was then thrown out in the street. The other two continued drinking. They were arrested the next morning.^[15]
• In 2003, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia a popular karaoke performer was hospitalized after his jealous wife tried, but failed, to cut off his penis while he slept Wednesday, Phnom Penh police said. Kan Bun Hou, 26, was asleep when his wife, Ma Len, attacked him with a razor blade, said Touch Sarin, a Phnom Penh police chief. Police were looking for the woman, who fled after the attack.^[16][17]
• In November 04, 2003, guyen Thi Thu H, 31, said she took a pair of scissors to her husband's genitalia and decided to hack off her 38-year-old husband's penis while he lay in a drunken stupor in bed. But after seeing how badly he was bleeding, she took him to hospital for treatment. he court handed the woman a 20-month suspended sentence because she had shown remorse and was seven months pregnant.^[18]
• In 2004, in Kassel, Germany, a 50-year-old woman severed the penis of her Ghanaian ex-husband but died as a result of wounds inflicted by the same knife. The man's organ was later retrieved from the same room in which she died, though it is unknown whether it was re-attached or not.^[19] Fortean Times later reported that the court was told that the man had severed his own penis before attacking his ex-wife.
• In October 2004, Dr. Naum Ciomu chopped patient Nelu Radonescu's penis into small pieces in a fit of anger during routine surgery for a testicular malformation.^[20] He was ultimately found guilty of grievous bodily harm, fined and received a 1 year suspended jail sentence for the attack.^[21] The victim ultimately had reconstructive surgery using tissue from his arm.
• In Oct 18 2004, Bangkok, thailand,Sornlam Yotbanya (24) had a heated argument with his wife, Rungnapha Pongalee (32), on Sunday night about his mistress. He went to bed and was rudely awoken hours later when his wife sliced off his member, reported ITV. In Sornlam's haste to get to Bangramrung hospital in Chonburi, 60km south-east of Bangkok, he left his penis behind in his bedroom. Bangramrung hospital dispatched a nurse to retrieve the severed member for a reattachment operation. Although the nurse packed the penis in ice, too many of the cells had died by the time it was delivered to hospital, killing all hopes of a revival.^[22]
• In November 2004, Manit Srithammathan cut off two teenage boys' penises and threw them in a canal. When the police questioned Srithammathan, he said he had cut off and disposed of their penises because the boys refused to confess to stealing $1,250 from his ATM account after they were shown videotape evidence of their theft.^[23]
• In February 2005, police arrested Anchorage woman Kim Tran for a knife attack which occurred during an argument involving a 44-year-old man that wanted out of their relationship. The penis was retrieved from a toilet where the woman had flushed it down, and it was successfully re-united with its owner.^[24]
• On July 23, 2005, Delmy Ruiz, 49, was found guilty of aggravated assault after she severed Rene Aramando Nuñez' penis with a knife. Ruiz said he had abused her earlier, but it was believed that she was really just jealous because he was seeing someone else. She lured him over to the house to talk about documents concerning the house that they owned together. He fell asleep while at the house. That is when she cut off his penis. The jury had been shown graphic photos of Nuñez' wounded crotch where more than 80% of his penis was completely removed save for a small stump. The penis was never recovered as it had been removed from the scene by her dog. Ruiz was sentenced to eight years in prison and fined $10,000.^[25]
• On September 20, 2005, the first successful penis transplant was begun in a military hospital in Guangzhou, China. A 44-year-old man had sustained an injury that severed his penis in an accident. Despite atrophy of blood vessels and nerves after a protracted period of time had elapsed, the arteries, veins, nerves and the corpora spongiosa were successfully matched. After seven hours' surgery, the penis regained its function and even managed to attain erection. The extent to which the penis' function was restored and occurrence of rejection or infection remain to be seen.^[26]
• In 2005, A Thai woman cut off her husband's penis after he asked her to make love one more time before he left her for another woman. Saithong Wantha, 53, then asked neighbours to take Udom Phorit, 35, to hospital while she turned herself in to police, reports The Nation. Nieghbours got hold of Udom's sister, Boonsong Ansanghan, but they could not find the severed organ. They had to call Saithong on her mobile phone. She told them she had tossed it behind the fence in the front yard. Nearly two hours went by before surgeons at Khon Kaen University's Srinakharin Hospital could operate.Finally, they reattached Udom's penis, but said there was only a 50-50 chance it would function properly.^[27]
• In 2006 in the Republic of China, a Kaohsiung County woman bludgeoned her husband and cut off his penis on June 11, 2006, according to local media reports. The 62 year-old woman, surnamed Pan (潘), struck her husband, surnamed Li (李), with a pick as he sat on their couch passed out from a bout of drinking, the Liberty Times reported. Li was reportedly unconscious when Pan then sliced off his penis with a razor blade and flushed the organ down the toilet. Li later died at a hospital from severe head injuries, and Pan is in police custody. Pan claimed that she had suffered years of physical abuse at the hands of her husband, who she also suspected of having an affair.^[28]
• On July 19, 2006, in shenyang, china, a man cut off his own penis after an argument with his wife.^[29][30]
• On April 22, 2007, a man cut off his penis with a knife in a packed London restaurant.^[31]
• In 2007, Li Gengbao's penis was cut off by his wife because she believed he was cheating on her. After hearing Li Gengbao plead for his penis back, the wife threw it out the window where the neighbor's dog ate it. The wife was given a three-year suspended sentence after her husband asked the judge to be lenient.^[32]
• On august 2, 2007, in Ca Mau province of vietnam a woman used a 20cm knife to cut off the penis of her husband and throw it in a ditch near the house. The hospital could not reaatach the penis.^[33]
• On March 11, 2008, Mouyu of Zhangzhou City, China, chopped off her husband's penis while he slept. Her husband Peng Wang confessed to her that he was having sexual intercourse with other women after Mouyu discovered text messages on his cell phone. After her husband fell asleep that night, Mouyu took a kitchen knife and sliced off her husband's penis. Afterwards, she gave the severed penis to their 6 year old son as a warning of being unfaithful. ^[34][35]
• On March 13, 2008, Skylar Deleon, a former child actor and convicted murderer on California's death row, partially severed his penis with a razor blade while being held in jail.^[36] Authorities do not know if Deleon stopped the effort himself because he could not carry it out to conclusion, or if he was interrupted by a guard. Deleon was taken to a hospital, his penis was re-attached, and he was back in jail the following day.^[37] In an interview with ABC's 20/20, Deleon indicated that he attempted to cut off his penis because he wanted to be a woman.[15]
• On April 24, 2008, a Pakistani woman in Lahore, Pakistan, chopped off her lover's penis after he wedded his cousin in a marriage arranged by his parents, The man, 24-year-old Muhammad Shehzad, began a relationship with a 30-year-old married woman named Jamila after they met at a zoo in the eastern city of Lahore two years ago, police officer Asghar Bhatti said. "Shehzad had promised he would marry Jamila if she got a divorce from her husband, but he married his cousin two weeks ago," Bhatti said, adding that this "infuriated her and she decided to take revenge. She invited him to her house last Wednesday and after serving some intoxicant cut off his sexual organ." Police arrested the woman and she remains in custody, Bhatti said. Doctor Sanaullah, who treated Shehzad at Lahore General Hospital, said they have been unable to reattach the penis. "He has become impotent for the rest of his life and will be unable to perform his conjugal duties. He can never become a father," the doctor said. She got out on March 12, 2009^[38]
• October 20, 2008, A 12 year old boy was admitted to a Chengdu hospital with head injuries and a severed penis earlier that year.^[39][40]
• On July 13, 2009, A woman in Leqing, Zhejiang province, China, cut off her husband's penis following an altercation over his fidelity, was sentenced to 13 years in jail. The woman, Hu, frequently fought with her husband Nan, whom she often accused of having an affair with another woman. In the early hours of July 13, when Nan was fast asleep, Hu severed his penis with a kitchen knife and immediately surrendered to the police.^[41][42]
• On October 9, 2009, A woman severed her husband's penis during his sleep with a pair of scissors about 3 am in their apartment in Shanghai, China on Sanmenzhi Road in Hongkou District. The woman suspected that her 34-year-old husband surnamed Lu was having an affair. He was sent to nearby Changhai Hospital by his wife's sister. His penis was stitched up. The couple came from Guizhou Province and the wife was said to have some mental problems, according to her mother.^[43]

See also

• Penectomy
• Genital retraction syndrome
• Penis transplantation
• Castration cult
• Apophallation
• Vagina dentata
• Rasputin's penis
• Lorena Bobbitt
• Feminization (activity)

References

External links

• The No-Penis Club
• "11:14", a 2003 Patrick Swayze-Colin Hanks movie depicting a penis severing
• Interview with a "nullo"