Karnataka man lands in hospital after sons try to curb his lustful ways

BENGALURU: Upset with a 60-year-old widower’s wanton ways, his sons and other family members threaded an iron nut and a plastic bottleneck on to his penis to restrain his libidinal impulses. The objects remained fastened to the man, from a village near Bagepalli of Chikkaballapura district , for over a month, resulting in a festering penile wound and infection.

After doctors in Kolar suggested amputating his penis to save him, the man landed at Bengaluru’s MS Ramaiah Hospital in early April. Doctors had to deploy an axle grinder to remove the nut and bottleneck. Back for a routine check-up at the hospital last week, the man was found to be hale and healthy.

According to doctors, the man’s family faced awkward moments when neighbours complained about his explicitly sexual behaviour and offensive verbal communication with women. Once, he forcibly held a woman’s hand, causing a huge uproar in the village. While no complaint was registered against the man, villagers warned his family that things would get worse if he wasn’t reined in.

The man’s family members promptly got a nut from a JCB and cut out the neck of a plastic bottle, fastening them on to his penis. As the organ developed complications, the man and his family visited multiple hospitals before arriving at MS Ramaiah on April 3.

First, a team of urologists and plastic surgeons treated him for the infection. On April 6, doctors got down to removing the nut and bottleneck from his genitals. With no medical equipment available, the surgeons used the axle grinder from hospital’s maintenance department. The 45-minute surgery was performed after the man was administered spinal anaesthesia. He was discharged after about a week.

The rare urologic emergency could have led to complications like gangrene and auto amputation in the absence of early intervention. There’s no standard care in such cases and each case is managed individually based on clinical findings and operative settings, the doctors said, recalling a similar case they had come across 15 years ago.

“Usually penile rings are used for sexual gratification. In this case, the objects were introduced by family members,” said Dr Puvvada Sandeep, consultant urologist, MS Ramaiah Hospital.

The man’s son and daughter-in-law requested doctors to amputate his penis, which they argued was the only way to check his promiscuous behaviour. “We explained to them that the organ shouldn’t be removed as it can lead to problems in passing urine and he may get infections,” said doctors.

The man was counselled during his hospital stay. “We warned him to change his behaviour, respect women and not indulge in such things hereafter,” said the doctors. He was referred for further psychiatric consultation.

Patient didn’t turn up after April: Psychiatrist

The man was taken by his family to Dr Vinutha Ravishankar, consultant psychiatrist, East Point Medical College and Research Centre. “This was a case of anti-social personality disorder. The man didn’t speak even during the personal interview. He refused to get admitted for further evaluation and treatment. In such cases, apart from counselling, a detailed evaluation is needed to check if the person suffers from any psychiatric illness. However, the patient didn’t turn up after April and no detailed evaluation was possible,” said Dr Vinutha.