Muslim Doctor Accused of Cutting Genitals of As Many As 100 Girls in Michigan
Imagine 100 minor girls crying and squirming in pain after having been subjected to forced female genital mutilation (FGM).
That was the imagery that came out after a federal prosecutor told a judge last week in Detroit, Michigan that as many as 100 girls could have had their genitals cut by a Muslim doctor and her cohorts, the Detroit Free Press reported.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Woodward made the disclosure as she tried to convince U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman to keep the doctor, Dr. Jumana Nagarwala, and his wife behind bars.
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Nagarwala had been accused of breaking the law when he cut the genitals of two Minnesota girls at a clinic outside Detroit in February as part of a secret religious rite of passage for the girls.
"Due to the secretive nature of this procedure, we are unlikely to ever know how many children were cut by Dr. Nagarwala," Woodward said, adding, "The Minnesota victims were not the first victims."
Judge Friedman earlier granted bond to two other defendants in the case: Dr. Fakhruddin Attar, 53, of Farmington Hills, who is accused of letting Nagarwala use his clinic to perform FGM on the minor girls; and his wife, Farida Attar, 50, who is accused of holding the girls' hands during the procedure to keep them from moving.
Woodward said the three defendants, all members of a local Indian-Muslim sect, may have subjected numerous other girls to FGM over a 12-year period.
She said her estimate of 100 victims is even a conservative one, based on Dr. Attar's alleged admission to authorities that he let Nagarwala use his clinic up to six times a year to treat children allegedly for genital rashes.
The arrest of the three defendants was earlier reported by The Christian Post last April before the first prosecution of suspects accused of violation the law against FGM
"According to the complaint, despite her oath to care for her patients, Dr. Nagarwala is alleged to have performed horrifying acts of brutality on the most vulnerable victims," acting assistant Attorney General Blanco said in a statement at that time. "The Department of Justice is committed to stopping female genital mutilation in this country, and will use the full power of the law to ensure that no girls suffer such physical and emotional abuse."
According to court documents, the first victim was told the procedure was meant "to get the germs out" of her.
But a medical examination performed under a search warrant found that her "labia minora has been altered or removed, and her clitoral hood is also abnormal in appearance."
Some Muslim clerics said the objective of FGM is to reduce a woman's libido and discourage illicit sexual intercourse. It is carried out on young girls sometime between infancy and age 15.
