An
applicant "will be asked whether or not his vital organ has been
enlarged," said Papua police chief Bekto Suprapto, quoted on local
website Kompas.com.
"If
he has, he will be considered unfit to join the police or the
military."
The ban was applied since the unnatural size causes
"hindrance during training," said police spokesman Zainuri Lubis in
Jakarta, quoted by news portal Detik.com.
Indonesia's remote easternmost province is home to
Papuan tribes, many of whom are known for wearing penis gourds.
A low-level separatist
insurgency has waged in the resources-rich part of Indonesia for decades
and there is a heavy police and military presence there.
Papuans use a local
technique to achieve the enlargement, according to a sexologist quoted
by local newspaper Jakarta Globe, wrapping the penis with leaves from
the "gatal-gatal" (itchy) tree so that it swells up "like it has been
stung by a bee," the expert said.
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2010 Reuters. Click for restrictions.