A woman in Pakistan has cut off the penis of a man she accused of trying to rape her, police said on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old woman used a knife to defend herself from the assault of a man who stormed her house in the central province of Punjab, police official Mohamed Ilyas said.

The woman told police she was alone at home when the man broke in and tried to overpower her.

The woman then ran to the kitchen, grabbed a knife and then cut off his penis when he again tried to assault her, Ilyas said, citing the woman’s account.

The 28-year-old man was being treated at the hospital in the city of Faisalabad and will be interrogated once his condition improves, Ilyas added.

Hundreds of women are raped in Pakistan each year, but those who commit the assaults are rarely punished due to weak laws and complicated procedures for prosecution, according to Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

Rape victims are often blamed for their assaults, accused of socialising with men – something frowned upon in conservative Muslim societies – or of bringing the attack on themselves.

Many women remain silent and decline to file a police report to avoid being named and shamed by Pakistan’s conservative society, advocacy group Aurat Foundation said.

“It is a painful situation. Often victims are blamed both by the legal system and the society,” women’s rights activist Farzana Bari said. (NAN)