The peaceful demonstrators - men and women - shouted slogans demanding the arrest of the two wives whose actions they described as "heinous".

The wives cut off their husband's penis over the weekend after finding him in a guest house with a female companion in the town of Kilgoris.

Without his manhood at least he will invest all his money on our three children's education and upkeep instead of moving around with other women Wife

The 30-year old man is receiving treatment at a local hospital. His companion has now been sent home.

The BBC's Muchiri Kioi in Kilgoris says that the wives are still in hiding and that the police have promised to arrest them and charge them with causing grievous bodily harm.

The wives attacked the female companion first with knives, chopping off one of her ears, before turning on their cornered husband.

The police were said to have failed to arrest the two women when they were called to the scene at the weekend because they were too stunned.

Example

The man was reported to have sold part of the family's maize harvest at the local market before taking a room at the guest house with his female companion.

"Without his manhood at least he will invest all his money on our three children's education and upkeep instead of moving around with other women," one of the wives was quoted as saying by the Kenyan East African Standard newspaper.

The wives said the incident would serve as an example to other unfaithful men in the town.

Several cases of men losing their manhood in infidelity-related cases have been reported in western Kenya in recent times.