Lovesick man cuts off penis in suiside try

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

What is done, is done. But 24-year-old Sadikin, a resident of Kampung Pisangan, Kayu Agung village in Sepatan district, could not hide his remorse after cutting off his penis on Friday morning out of a broken heart.

"I thought that after I cut off my penis, it would have been the end of my life but in fact I am still alive," he said, while lying on a straw mat in the living room of the house where he lives with his mother.

When The Jakarta Post visited the house on Saturday, many neighbors were still gathered in front of the small house, trying to take a peek at the object of their curiosity.

"None of us here can understand why Sadikin did it ... Love is love, but one should not hurt oneself because of that," said Imroni, a neighbor.

To them, Sadikin is a devout Muslim who teaches the Koran to children.

Sadikin, who used to work at a department store in Cengkareng, West Jakarta, had been depressed over the past two days, according to his 54-year-old mother Saikem.

"He did not tell me what had happened. I knew that he had fallen in love with a girl but I don't know who," she said.

Saikem, whose husband died five years ago, left home as usual at about 6 a.m. that Friday to wash neighbors' clothes, leaving Sadikin, the third of her five children, alone at home.

Sadikin went to the bathroom and cut off a part of his penis with a razor blade, put the severed part into a plastic bag and threw it into the garbage.

A neighbor, Supriyadi, heard Sadikin groaning in pain when he passed the house at about 10 a.m. and rushed in.

"We took him to Tangerang General Hospital immediately," he told the Post.

The hospital surgeon, Rifki, said it was too late to reconnect the severed part because the nerves would no longer function well.

"We suggested that Sadikin stay for further treatment until the wound healed but his mother insisted on taking him home and we could not prevent her," he said.

Kayu Agung village head Edi Susanto said that Saikem refused to let her son stay at the hospital due to financial difficulties, although she can a avail of free medical care provided for impoverished families.

"We are poor and we have no money to pay for the hospital fees. That's why I did not let Sadikin stay at the hospital," said Saikem who took Sadikin home at about 3:30 p.m. on Friday.

"Moreover, there would be no one to stay with my son at the hospital since I have to work all day."