Men are voluntarily castrating themselves for a north London cult that sells footage of the procedures, reports say.
Detectives arrested seven men from a house in Finsbury Park following a raid in December, and searched the place for four days.
A source told The Sun the property’s basement was being used to surgically remove penises and testicles.
The procedures were allegedly screened on a pay-per-view adult channel that was advertised on Twitter, it is claimed.
Men who willingly get castrated are believed to meet through online forums and identify as ‘nullos’ after having the operation.
One castrated man reportedly dubbed himself ‘The Eunuch Maker’ and runs a film production company.
Seven people were released on bail for grievous bodily harm while Scotland Yard investigates.
Although the idea of voluntarily getting castrated is shocking, it is not unheard of.
Men going under the knife are part of an extreme S&M community. Reasons include a desire to be feminised, to stay prepubescent and asexual, or a phobia of sex in general.
Japanese artist Mao Sugiyama infamously got his genitals removed before cooking and serving the body parts to paying customers in 2019.
Some 70 people showed up for the event in Tokyo, with five diners paying £190 for the ‘meal’. Sugiyama was later charged with indecent exposure.
One man, Trent Gates, 23, previously told Metro.co.uk how he severed his testicles in April 2016, and did the same to his penis in January 2017.
Trent, from Washington DC, used iced water for the first procedure, but performed the second while taking a course of painkillers.
He said: ‘It really didn’t feel like part of me. It’s along the lines of being trans, but not quite.’
Another eunuch, interviewed by The Guardian more than two decades ago, said he wanted to get castrated because the idea aroused him and because he felt a need to get rid of his testicles.
After having them removed, he said: ‘I’ve never felt more myself, more complete or happy.’
He went on to take testosterone so he could still function sexually. He has since given advice to other men who are thinking about getting castrated.
There have historically been religious cults that use castration and manipulate members into getting the operation.
One 18th century cult in Russia called the Skoptzy had most of its members castrated before the age of 10 to achieve their ideal version of sanctity.
Surgeons often perform genital modifications, but many medical professionals believe removing healthy body parts is in violation of their oath to ‘do no harm’.
Besides the procedure being a dangerous infection risk, castrated men often need hormone treatment to maintain their sex drives and mental health.
