Man is awarded just £20,000 after his penis was chopped off during botched circumcision

A 22-year-old man who had his penis lopped off in a botched circumcision at age ten has had a compensation award of £500,000 reduced to just £20,000 after the Malay government successfully appealed against his claim. 

The unnamed victim reportedly lost roughly 90 per cent of his penis during the op that took place at the local hospital in his hometown of Kuala Lipis, Malaysia, on December 13, 2010.

The medics who reportedly severed his privates were not qualified in microsurgeries, and the decision was made to transfer the boy to Selayang Hospital where better qualified surgeons could attempt to rectify the horror botch job. 

But the delay meant he was only operated on ten hours later, at which point all hope for reattaching his penis was lost.

Afterwards, he remained hospitalised for over a month amid an agonising and desperate recovery process after which he filed a lawsuit against the government and hospital directors with the help of his mother.

On April 7, 2022, Justice Datuk Akhtar Tahir ruled in his favour and awarded him MYR 3.1 million (£532,409) in damages.

Judge Akhtar said in June of last year: ‘The delay by the medical personnel in attending to the plaintiff’s injury had extinguished all hopes of a successful surgery in saving the injured part of the plaintiff.

‘The Selayang Hospital had been informed about the transfer of the plaintiff, yet the medical personnel did not take steps to prepare for a possible surgery.

‘It is clear that no amount of financial award given by the court will compensate the loss suffered by the plaintiff.

‘All the shame and humiliation the plaintiff suffers comes as a result of this terrible loss.

‘His mother had testified that since the age of ten, the plaintiff has entered into a shell and finds it hard to interact with others, let alone develop the courage ever to marry.’

The amount sought by the plaintiff was north of £500,000, including a litany of general, special and severe damages collectively owed by all the defendants.

But the payout was greatly reduced after the government filed an appeal that the Putrajaya Court of Appeal accepted.

A three-judge panel ruled unanimously that general damages of MYR 2 million (GBP 343,432) obtained by the plaintiff were excessively high during a hearing earlier this month. 

Justice Ravinthran Paramaguru, who chaired the panel, said the amount was not supported by any documentation.

Paramaguru was quoted as saying: ‘Therefore, the general damages of MYR 2 million are reduced to MYR 100,000 (£17,172).

‘The special damages are reduced from to MYR 23,556 (£4,045).’

Bogus medic Torben K, 46 has been jailed for five years after performing a botched penis enlargement surgery which killed his patient

The drastic reduction in the plaintiff’s damages came just weeks after a German man who posed as a cosmetic surgeon was jailed for five years for performing a botched penis enlargement surgery which killed his patient. 

Bogus medic Torben K, 46, a catering worker from Solingen, Germany, had injected the patient’s manhood and scrotum with silicone oil during what was supposed to be a ‘girth-enhancing’ procedure.

Judges in Wuppertal District Court jailed him on August 28 after he was found guilty of causing death by grievous bodily harm.

The 32-year-old victim – not named in court – died of sepsis seven months after the agonising operation in July 2019.

The court heard how the bogus doctor had no medical qualifications and offered his penis enlargement services online.