Indian man hangs self from tree after sister-in-law cuts genital during attempted rape

Lorena Bobbitt’s Indian counterpart in the Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh was quick to the draw when her brother-in-law attempted to rape her last week. Using a sickle, 32-year-old Vimlesh Koul cut off the genital of Sanju Koul.

She then rushed and reported the rape attempt to the nearest police station, accompanied by her three children. As proof, she brought to the station the severed penis, reports The Sun.

Police went to the scene of the crime to investigate, mainly to question Sanju. However, it was too late because the suspect hanged himself from a tree out of shame – likely not for attacking the wife of his brother, but for losing his manhood.

Vimlesh’s husband was at work more than 700 miles away in Nashik when Sanju, who owns the house, attempted to molest her. She is facing attempted murder charges, but police say the case needs proper investigation.

Rape incidents in India continue to go up despite more media focus on the crime against women after a gang raped and killed a female student on a Delhi bus in December 2012. India’s National Crime Records Bureau reports that in 2014, rape cases went up by 9 percent to 33,707, according to the Independent.

Ironically, what happened to Sanju is a reversal of a big rape case in 2014 in Uttar Pradesh. Two poor Indian girls, aged 14 and 15, were found hanging on a mango tree after they were raped. The two, who were cousins, went out at night in the field to relieve themselves, but they were kidnapped, raped and lynched.

However, Indian police believe it was an honour killing done by the victims’ family out of shame over their fate. The incident sparked an international outcry over how Indians are treating their women, with no less than UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon expressing outrage.

When asked to comment on the incident, Ramsevak Paikra, home minister of central Chharigarth state, stated that rapes “happen accidentally,” while Babulal Gaur, home minister of Madhya Pradesh – where the penis-cutting occurred – said that rapes were “sometimes wrong and sometimes right,” reports The Telegraph.