Bullied Teen Attempts Self-Circumcision With Machete

An African teenager reportedly attempted to circumcise himself with a machete after friends mocked him, saying he couldn’t attract girls.

The 16-year-old from Zimbabwe was rushed to the hospital after he botched the self-circumcision. What would compel someone to do such a thing? According to News24, the boy had been bullied by peers about his penis.

“It seems the other boys were laughing at him for not being circumcised, so he used a machete to circumcise himself and injured himself in the process,” provincial medical director Nyasha Masuka told The Chronicle.

The teen was treated at the hospital for two days, where hospital workers completed the circumcision.

There is currently a nationwide voluntary circumcision program for men in Zimbabwe. The procedure is said to reduce HIV transmission and cervical cancer in women.

According to the health ministry’s “Accelerated Strategic and Operational Plan for Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision,” Zimbabwe has set a target of circumcising 1.3 million men between the ages of 13 and 29 by 2017.

“Circumcisions are done free, so he did not have to go through this,” explained Masuka.

It is unclear why the boy did not seek out the free program before performing the operation on himself.

“He comes from an area bordering Gokwe, Lupane and Binga, and as such the area has different ethnic groups,” said Lupane district medical officer Dr. George Mature. “After attempting to circumcise himself, he was rushed to Kenyadavu Clinic, which called an ambulance and rushed him to St. Lukes Hospital.”

Other patients and the hospital staff members were stunned by his bravery and ability to use the weapon on his own penis, according to Mature.

“The patients who were admitted with him were wondering how he managed to do it,” Mature said. “The good thing is that he wounded the outer layer of the foreskin. So we had to keep him at the hospital to monitor him, as he had used a clinically inappropriate tool, so we were worried that it could have caused an infection.”

Less than a month prior to this incident, a 10-year-old Malaysian boy had the tip of his penis chopped off after a botched circumcision, according to the Daily Mail. The doctor’s laser scalpel allegedly slipped during the procedure.

Sources: The Chronicle, News24, Daily Mail / Photo credit: Dana60Cummins/Wikimedia Commons