Warning: This article contains discussion of rape and sexual assault which some readers may find distressing.
The woman who cut off her husband’s penis with a kitchen knife once revealed the real reason why she did it.
Back in June 1993, Lorena Bobbitt chopped off the penis of her sleeping husband, John Wayne Bobbitt, before fleeing their home in Virginia and tossing the severed body part from her car window in a field across from a 7-Eleven convenience store.
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Later this evening (15 October), ITV will be releasing a documentary about the harrowing case, exploring 'truth behind the headlines' and exactly what led up to the then 24-year-old castrating her 26-year-old husband.
The doc in question, titled I Cut Off His Penis - The Truth Behind the Headlines, looks into the personal testimony of women and men who have witnessed and felt the impact of this act - also known as 'penicide'.
The case, which has gone down as arguably one of the most sensationalised domestic violence cases to ever make headlines, looks into Lorena's motives behind the act which prompted John to undergo a nine-and-a-half-hour operation to reattach the body organ after she told detectives where she'd thrown it.
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Lorena claimed that John had subjected her to years of abuse during their marriage and had raped her earlier that night, which John denied, instead claiming that she had been awake when he'd entered the room after a night out and had made sexual advances towards him.
Four months later, a jury found that John was not guilty of raping Lorena.
A few months after that, Lorena was also acquitted on a charge of 'malicious wounding' by reason of insanity.
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She was committed to a psychiatric hospital for observation and later released after 45 days.
In 1995, the pair finalised their divorce.
In 2007, Lorena founded Lorena's Red Wagon organisation, which helps prevent domestic violence through family-oriented activities and is now living with her partner of over 20 years, David Bellinger, and their daughter, Olivia.
When asked in a 2018 interview with TIME magazine what she wanted people to know about her case, Lorena explained: "The new generation, they don’t know that I was abused. They don’t realise."
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She continued: "It’s not like I woke up in the morning and said, 'By the way, I’m going to cut my husband’s penis off.'
"There was a history. It was not my intention to do that."
She also shared that she 'felt terrible' that John 'went through his whole thing', adding: "When I was being checked for rape at the hospital, the nurse said, 'After we finish the rape kit, you need to talk to this detective'.
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"The detective came and said, 'We need to know where the penis is'. A person who is bad or vindictive would never tell them or be concerned about [where] his organ was.
"And I said, 'Look at this road'. Then [they] found it. To me, I think a person with bad intentions would have said, 'Forget about it, I don’t know'.
"I was really concerned about him."
I Cut Off His Penis - The Truth Behind the Headlines will be available to watch on ITV tonight at 9pm.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact the Rape Crisis England and Wales helpline on 0808 500 222, available 24/7. If you are currently in danger or need urgent medical attention, you should call 999.
Topics: True Crime, US News, TV And Film
Rhiannon Ingle