A man who had his penis cut off by his wife after he invited another woman to live with them is taking legal action after images showing his genitals in a medical bag were leaked online. 

The unnamed Bangladeshi man had recently moved to the Italian town of Angri in Campania with his wife and had suggested getting a larger house so they could accommodate an extra person. 

His wife allegedly responded with extreme measures by waiting until he had fallen asleep during a post-lunch nap, grabbed a kitchen knife, and sliced off his penis.

Paramedics put his severed genital on ice in the hopes it could be attached, but once in the hospital, surgeons said it would be impossible to reattach his member.  

Now, images have surfaced on social media showing the man lying in his hospital bed, along with a photograph of his penis sealed in a medical bag. 

Two lawyers representing the 35-year-old have announced they will file a complaint to identify the person who took the photos and shared them online. 

'The shocking images of the emasculated man, filmed on a hospital bed, along with a photograph of his penis in a sealed medical bag, are circulating online through chat rooms and social media in a climate of genuine media hype,' said lawyers Angelo and Sergio Pisani, representing the victim. 

The lawyers added: 'This material is of unprecedented gravity,' which 'suggests it was disseminated from within the hospital environment or by individuals who had direct access to the patient during treatment.'

 'A human and clinical tragedy has been transformed into a viral spectacle,' they emphasised, adding that 'whoever released those images will have to answer for it under criminal and civil law, as will any liability on the part of the healthcare facility.'

The incident took place earlier this month. 

Police arrived at the scene and found his wife pacing around in a dazed state with the bloody knife allegedly still in her hand.

She was arrested and charged with attempted murder.

Authorities are also investigating the last meal the man ate in an attempt to find out whether the wife had drugged him before the attack.

The alleged assault is being investigated by a team of Carabinieri police led by Commander Gianfranco Albanese and a local prosecutor, Gianluca Caputo.

'This is a case of unprecedented violence,' said Angelo Pisani, a lawyer and the founder of an organisation that campaigns against domestic abuse, who has offered to defend the husband for free.

'This kind of violence must always be condemned, regardless of who committed it.'

This is not the only incident of its kind.

In 1993, Lorena Bobbitt alleged that she was raped by her husband, John Wayne Bobbitt and, in a desperate act of self-defence, cut off his penis with a kitchen knife as he slept.

After jumping in her car and throwing the severed appendage out the window in Manassas, Virginia, she was charged with malicious wounding.

Authorities were able to locate the member in a field after Lorena described the exact location, and he was reunited with it after a ten-hour surgery.

At her trial, Lorena took the stand and was later acquitted by reason of temporary insanity.

She was sent to a mental hospital, where she was discharged after a month. Lorena and John Wayne officially divorced in 1995.