A woman on trial in Córdoba, accused of cutting off her lover's penis, has admitted before a jury in court she wanted to hurt him.

"Yes, I thought about hurting him and planned to hurt him," said Brenda Barattini, 28, who faces a charge of attempted homicide.

"To hurt him, no more than that," she added, explaining that she did not wish to kill her former lover.

Barattini, an architect, was arrested in November, 2017 in the Nueva Córdoba neighbourhood of the provincial capital for "causing severe injuries." She is said to have used a pair of garden shears to mutilate her then-lover's manhood.

However, after evidence in the trial over the past month, prosecutors decided to upgrade the charges to "attempted homidicde."

Attempting to explain her actions, Barattini said that her former lover – identified only as Sergio F. or 'SAF' – had treated her "like a trophy," showing his friends and colleagues intimate videos of her.

Detailing why she didn't seek to kill him, Barattini said that she was the one who sought assistance for him in the wake of the attack.

"I was the one who opened the door. Moreover, I went to ask for help," she told the court.

Barattini – who has come to be known as some as the "la Lorena Bobbit cordobesa" (a reference to the American woman who in 1993 cut off her husband's penis after years of sexual abuse) – explained that she had taken the decision to attack her boyfriend after learning that he had shared a series of intimate photos and videos of the couple having sex with his friends.

"He treated me like a trophy," she said. "It violated my intimacy, my life and my career. It ruined everything," she told Córdoba's Criminal Court No. 2, explaining that he had requested the media be recorded.

Barattini is alleged to have cut off almost 90 percent of Sergio's penis and one of his testicles.

Testimony

The victim, speaking earlier in the trial, detailed the horror that dawned upon him when he gave his versions of events.

"We started having sex and she told me that she was going to give me a surprise, that she had something to give me," he said, explaining that she had then covered his eyes with a velvet mask.

"Then she told me to guess what she touched me with. She also wanted to tie me up but I didn't want to," he added. "She started giving me oral sex. Suddenly I felt something. She wanted to kill me in that second."

"I felt like I was going to die, I didn't know she had cut me. I couldn't see anything. I tried to get up, I pulled up my trousers and grabbed by mobile phone to call an ambulance. I wanted to leave and she started to insult me. She grabbed my t-shirt, my hair, she wouldn't let me leave."

A former boyfriend of Barattini's, Gonzalo Rodriguez, also gave evidence to the court about his relationship with the accused. He claimed that he received a call in the immediate aftermath of the account and that after rushing to Barattini's home, he discovered the accused in a state of undress and a "river of blood." He also alleges that Barattini claimed she had been raped and asked him to kill the victim.

Following the testimonies, prosecutor Laura Battistelli requested charges against be Barattini be upgraded to "attempted aggravated homicide." Believing the attack was pre-meditated, prosecutors claim Barattini had even searched for how to amputate genitals on the Internet prior to the attack.

If found guilty, Barattini could receive a sentence ranging from 10 to 15 years in prison.

Barattini, known by her middle name Micaela or "Micky," by her friends has been jailed at Bouwer prison since the crime took place. She was 26 when the attack took place. Her lover was 40. Born in Comodoro Rivadavia, Chubut, she had a "casual and sporadic relationship" with the victim, according to reports from Perfil, which was based on sex. Both had other partners during the time their relationship took place.

In an interview last year with local newspaper La Voz del Interior, Barattini said the crimes of her former lover had been "covered up" by the media.

“I never said it wasn't me. This person hurt me a lot. And what he did to me is not done to any human being,” the young woman told the newspaper.

“He caused me great damage, very great psychological damage. Violating my intimacy, and that is not done. Not by a woman, not by a man, or by anyone.”

Barttini was also angered by claims she had cut off the penis.

"There was never an amputation. One of the things I am angry about is that there has been no amputation. There was never an amputation,” she insisted. “I hurt him with scissors. I cut the limb, the penis, not the testicles. I cut his penis, not completely: I hurt him."

– TIMES/NA/TÉLAM