Brenda Barattini, 26, allegedly attacked her 40-year-old lover Sergio Fernandez in November 2017 while he was asleep

A woman accused of cutting off her boyfriend's penis with a pair of garden shears said she did it because he shared their sex tape with his friends.

Brenda Barattini, 26, allegedly attacked her 40-year-old lover Sergio Fernandez in November 2017 while he was asleep, leaving blood smeared around his house.

The violent assault in the Argentinian city of Cordoba left her former partner with 90 per cent of his penis hacked off.

Now the architect has revealed why she allegedly carried out the attack in an interview from jail, where she is being held in pre-trial detention.

Barattini told a reporter: 'I cut his penis but not completely; I injured him. It wasn't complete; I injured him.'

She added: 'I left to ask for help. I did not want anything to happen to him. Besides, I was afraid of the blood.'

Barattini said that Mr Fernandez hurt her feelings when he allegedly leaked an intimate video of them to his friends.

Felipe Trucco, one of the mutilated man's lawyers, said his client still needs more surgery after sustaining the shocking injuries.

Sergio Fernandez clutching his private parts after the attack. Blood can be seen smeared down his legs and bottles of water sit beside him where he appears to have to tried to clean the wound

He was rushed to hospital at the time and lost a large amount of blood.

Officers do not believe Barattini was staying at Mr Fernandez's property when she allegedly carried out the attack.

Instead they believe she entered his home in the early hours before mutilating him.

It is unclear whether medics were able to locate the man's severed genitals and if they can be reattached, or how the emergency services were alerted to his injuries.