An Egyptian man whose family refused him permission to marry below his station decided the best way to lodge a protest was to chop off his own penis, AP reports.

The unnamed 25-year-old hails from a "prominent" family in the southern Egyptian province of Qena - described as "one of Egypt's poorest and most conservative areas" - where getting hitched with your social inferiors is severely frowned upon.

He petitioned his father for two years on the matter of nuptials, but dad said no. Finally, he "heated up a knife and sliced off his reproductive organ", according to an anonymous police official.

The informant confirmed the victim was rushed to hospital, but doctors were unable to reattach his penis. He is now recovering from his ill-advised fit of pique. ®

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