Thiruvananthapuram, May 20 (IANS):
In an act of self-defence, a 23-year-old woman chopped off a godman's penis on Friday, who had been reportedly assaulting her sexually for several years.
According to a report , the accused Sreehari alias Ganeshananda Theerthapada Swami, a 54-year-old ‘swami’ had allegedly raped her multiple times since her high school days.
After she had committed the act, the victim had called the Thiruvananthapuram police to inform them about her assault. She also confessed that she had done so as an act of vengeance and in self-defence to the swami's actions.
The victims’ parents were followers of the Swami who belongs to an ashram in Padmana in Kollam, Kerala.
The report further stated that Swami, who was in a critical condition, was later admitted to the Medical College hospital on Saturday around 12:30 am. The incident reportedly happened on Friday at 11:30 pm, according to the police.
"She knew that no one would believe her if she said she had been sexually assaulted by a man of god. So, this was perhaps the only thing she could think of," the Circle inspector of Pettai station in Thiruvananthapuram said.
While the Medical College said in a press statement that the accused was out of danger, the woman has been taken to a government shelter.
The press statement further was quoted as stating, "A 54-year-old man from Kollam was admitted at 12.39 am to the hospital on Saturday. His penis had been cut (90%) and was hanging precariously. There was no way it could be stitched back. Plastic surgeons, who are urology experts in the hospital, did an emergency surgery to stop the blood loss and to enable him to pass urine."
According to the woman, her mother was well aware of the Swami's acts and he had repeatedly assaulted her at home. Aware of his arrival on Friday night, the victim is said to have kept a knife ready to chop off his genitals.
A case has been filed registered against the swami under IPC section 376 (rape) and under sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). "Case had been filed under POCSO as the assault and rape seem to have started when she was a minor," police were quoted as saying.
Strangely, the girl's act is eerily similar to a Malayalam movie sequence called 22 Female Kottayam where the heroine apparently castrates the hero for betraying her.
Kerala CM lauds woman's 'courageous step' of castrating rapist
Applauding the woman's step of chopping off man's genitals for allegedly trying to rape her, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday said it is a courageous step.
"It was a courageous step. No doubt about it," Vijayan told the media here.
A 23-year-old woman had cut off the genitals of a man when he allegedly tried to rape her at her home in Pettah in the city late last night.
The 54-year-old man, an inmate of an ashram in Kollam, was rushed to the government medical college hospital here with critical injuries in the wee hours, police had said on Saturday.
He underwent an emergency surgery and his condition is stable now, a hospital release said. The woman in her complaint stated that the accused has been known to her family for the past few years and has been harassing her since she was a minor, police said.
A senior police official told PTI that a case has been registered against the man under various sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO) and IPC 376 (punishment for rape).
No case has been registered against the woman, he said. The police declined to divulge details, saying the investigation is on.