Woman accused of cutting off sleeping partner's penis

Peruvian authorities are investigating a woman accused of cutting off her cheating partner's penis with a kitchen knife as he slept.

"We are awaiting the results of the investigation to determine the motive and circumstances of the events," Darinka Lossio, a prosecutor with the city of Chota in northern Peru, told AFP of the weekend attack.

Local media, citing police reports, said that the 39-year-old woman had argued with her partner after he returned home drunk, believing he had been unfaithful. The attack then allegedly took place after he fell asleep.

"He had a traumatic amputation, he has been given medical care and will receive psychiatric support," a medical source told AFP.

The prosecutor said the woman remained free, as she was taking care of the couple's three-month-old baby.

"We are outraged, we want justice. My nephew's penis was cut off," the man's uncle told local media.

The story echoes the world's most famous tale of penile amputation, when Ecuador-born Lorena Bobbitt cut off her husband's member as he slept, after he raped her, in the United States in 1993. (AFP)