The victim was punched and had his penis yanked by his former partner. (Envato)
A man in Birmingham who tore his boyfriend’s penis in a violent argument over dinner has avoided prison.
The victim, a 32-year-old teacher in Birmingham, decided to share his story to raise awareness of domestic abuse in gay relationships after he was attacked by his former partner.
He told BirminghamLive that first he met Luke Lal in Birmingham city centre in November, 2018, and three months later they started dating.
In the beginning, the relationship was good, but the victim said Lal soon “changed” and became violent.
On the evening of January 29, 2020, the couple were planning dinner, and when the victim said what he wanted, Lal insisted they have pakoras.
“He said he was going to the shop to collect food and when he came back he had bought pakoras,” the victim said.
“I said that I didn’t want to eat it. He started getting angry saying I’m not following what he wants to do, that I need to listen. He punched me, then he pulled my penis five times.”
Lal pulled his penis so hard that he suffered a tear, which caused “a severe throbbing pain”.
He managed to escape the flat and call the police, before going to hospital where the tear in his penis had to be glued back together.
For around three weeks, Lal disappeared, but soon began a campaign of harassment – he began “sending a series of abusive text, audio and video messages”, and even created a Grindr profile using the victim’s photo and revealing personal information.
Although the victim reported the abuse to the police, Lal was never remanded, and the harassment continued for four months.
For around a year he insisted he was not guilty before admitting to the assault and harassment charges, but on Friday, 25 March, he was sentenced to 12 months in prison suspended for 18 months at Birmingham Crown Court. He was also ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work.
The victim said: “I think if the police and CPS took it very seriously he would have been kept on remand, but that never happened.
“He was free to go… I don’t think the prison is the answer to every offence, he might need rehabilitation.”
The victim decided to speak out about his experience to draw attention to domestic abuse in same-sex relationships.
“I wanted to bring awareness to other victims who are suffering from this,” he said.
“I know a lot of people wouldn’t want to speak up about it. People don’t want to disclose it but it happens and people would be surprised that it’s common.”