Warning: The following article contains graphic details of extreme physical mutilation
Have mind bleach ready
Marius Gustavson, 46, made almost £300,000 through his “eunuch maker” website, which amassed a “staggering” 22,841 users, the Old Bailey was told.
The Norwegian national was the “mastermind” behind the “lucrative business” which shared images of “dangerous, unnecessary and life-changing surgeries” carried out by people with no medical qualifications, prosecutor Caroline Carberry KC said.
She said the “nature and scale” of the procedures, including penis removal, castration and freezing of limbs that needed to be amputated, “is without precedent”.
Gustavson set up a pay-per-view website using the “swaggering” name “eunuch maker” to advertise his services, which became increasingly professional, she said.
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The court heard customers paid to view footage of a single procedure or could take out various levels of subscription, one of which cost £100 a year.
In one video shown in court, Gustavson - who had his own penis cut off, the tip of his nipple removed and his leg frozen so that it had to be amputated - is seen “tasting” a severed penis.
Ms Carberry said body parts, including testicles, were kept in his freezer, while Gustavson’s own penis was found in a drawer in his home almost four years after it was amputated.
She said “some of the items may have been sold” while there “was clear evidence of cannibalism” and images found on his phone from 22 June 2018 show “he cooked some testicles for lunch”.
“The images, from raw ingredients to an artfully arranged salad platter, were discovered by officers,” she said.
The court was shown images of vegetables including potatoes, cucumber and tomatoes, with the testicles fried on a griddle pan, as well as what Ms Carberry said were “actual nuts” such as cashews.
The procedures were carried out at his home in north London, rented apartments or hotels, and the victims, including a 16-year-old boy, were promised money from the video revenue, the court heard.
Being real though?
For the people that wanted his services, it isn’t like there’s many alternatives. It’s incredibly hard to find licenced surgeons that are willing to do that kind of extreme body modifications. And, when the drive to do it is at least partially impelled by some form of dysmorphia, the person is going to eventually find a way.
I once knew a guy obsessed with having his tongue cut off. I tried convincing him to not do it at all, to try finding treatment for the urge itself first, to do anything but try to cut his tongue out. Didn’t matter, he eventually tried it despite efforts to at least delay him until something else could happen to help him.
That kind of thing is rare, but with billions of people on earth, a low percentage is still high numbers.
And, marrying being real? Body autonomy should be a core human right, even to that extreme. It isn’t like very many places in the world have effective mental health intervention. Even with programs to support folks that have bad access for one reason or another, there’s long lists and long delays with long gaps between visits. The kind of pressure that people with this kind of issue feel can’t always hold out, and they’ll do whatever it takes to relieve that pain.
Now, the guy still needed to be stopped. He was essentially preying on people for his own wants and needs. But realistically, that’s where a lot of that kind of thing happens; you get desperate people looking for anyone that will do the job, and they don’t care about risks.
Ffs, look at the threading and “vampire facial” shit that people will do, chasing their body image. Look at the kind of distortions that shitty plastic surgeons are willing to do. Results that, no matter how well executed, change the body just as much as what this guy did. But they would never do an elective cosmetic procedure up amputate a limb.
Me? I say set up some regulatory controls, screen everyone that wants to do it, train them, and get out of the way with arbitrary controls over what a person can do to their body or not.
There’s people that have actually convinced doctors to help them do this kind of extreme modification. They are largely less stressed and get on with their lives. So, at least set up a method for the very serious people to have a safe path if you don’t want it to be as open to all.