Man Slices Off Four Body Parts

September 19, 2002 09:39 AM ET

SYDNEY (Reuters) - An Australian man cut off the little finger on his right hand, then his scrotum, then his penis and finally his left hand in a drug-induced act of self-mutilation after arguing with his wife.

The man, believed to be high on amphetamines, attacked himself with a carving knife Tuesday in the town of Inverell 400 miles north of Sydney, police said Thursday.

"It is the most bizarre thing I have seen in 16 years in the police force," Inverell inspector Dave Harrington told Reuters.

Harrington said the 38-year-old man cut off his little finger while arguing with his wife inside their Inverell house and then chased her outside.

"He then proceeded to dismember his member," he said.

Police said the man was lucky ambulance officers witnessed the attack and prevented him from bleeding to death, adding that police recovered several body parts and packed them in ice in the hope they could be reattached.

The man was flown to Sydney for emergency microsurgery and was now in a stable condition, police said.