Swami Gangesanantha Teerthapadar, who has given a lifetime's worth of wounds to all the children and women he allegedly raped, will now live with a limp penis.
Swami Gangesanantha
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Swami Gangesanantha Teerthapadar, who has given a lifetime’s worth of wounds to all the children and women he allegedly raped, will now live with a limp penis. Doctors treating the self-confessed godman, bobbitted by a 23-year-old woman he had repeatedly raped for years, have said he will never be able to have intercourse again, or pee standing up. Gangesanantha has been admitted in the special cell, attached to the male general surgical ward 7 of the Thiruvananthapuram medical college since May 20.
No blood supply
According to Dr Ajay Kumar, head of the department of plastic surgery, "As the organ was completely cut and hanging onto a small bridge of skin, with all the blood-supplying nerves and arteries damaged, it was impossible to carry out any micro-vascular surgery. Our priority was to stop the blood loss. Therefore, we somehow managed to suture the organ back to its position, without doing any surgical procedure to repair the damaged blood vessels and arteries."
Dr Kumar added, "Our worry has come true; as there is no blood supply to the organ, it has already started showing signs of edema (swelling) and we suspect that in the coming days, there will be infections, which will lead to gangrene. In that case, we will have no option but to remove the organ completely to ensure that the infection doesn’t spread to the patient’s bloodstream and endanger his life."
Sit down to pee
When asked if the Swami could pass urine, the doctor replied in the positive stating, "The only difference is that he will not be able to urinate standing up; he will have to sit. We have put a urinary catheter. He will be able to control his urine, as there is no damage to the urinary tract, though he will never be able to have intercourse for the rest of his life," said the doctor.
The only way out for Gangeshnada is reconstructive plastic surgery. A senior doctor at the hospital said, "In this case, he may require the reconstructive surgery and it will be done here for free, provided the concerned police or home department write to us. Even without surgery, he will not have any risk to his life, even if the organ is removed." "As a plastic surgeon, I can say that reconstruction of the organ will cost approximate R10 lakh at a private centre," said Dr Kumar.
Academic input
Meanwhile, the medical college has decided to keep the photographs of the suturing process and the wound for academic purposes. "We have come across a few cases of road accidents, where the injured victim would have injuries to his genitals, but this is the first case where an almost dislocated organ has come to us."
Sera Khuraisha, spokesperson of the medical college added, "We have not seen any relatives of the swami coming to meet him at the hospital. Moreover, as he is in police custody, no one is allowed to meet him either. We are likely to refer him for a psychiatric evaluation soon."
As for the probe into the case, G Sparjan Kumar, commissioner of police, Thiruvananthapuram city said, "We are waiting for the swami to be discharged from hospital before we can even think of questioning him. He is under medical care and we haven’t carried out any detailed questioning to know more about him and his past records."
When inquired about the woman, he said, "We have sent her to the Nirbhaya home, where she will continue to stay and undergo counselling. Also, we have not arrested her mother so far." Meanwhile, the Kerala State Women’s Commission met the woman and asked the police to submit their report to them soon.
Rs 10lakh Approximate cost of penile reconstructive surgery