Judge Dismisses Charges In Michigan Genital Mutilation Case

DETROIT, MI — A federal judge in Detroit has declared the nation's female genital mutilation law as unconstitutional, dismissing charges against two Michigan doctors in a historic case.

The Michigan doctors and seven others have been accused of subjecting at least nine minor girls to genital cutting in the nation's first FGM case.

The case involves young girls from Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota, the Free Press reported, including some who cried, screamed and bled during the procedure and one who was given Valium ground in liquid Tylenol to keep her calm.

In the case, Dr. Jumana Nagarwala, the lead defendant, reportedly cut the genitals of two 7-year-old Minnesota girls who were tricked into the procedure in 2017 by their mothers and cried and bled afterward. Prosecutors said Nagarwala did this with the help of Dr. Fakhuruddin Attar, who is accused of letting Nagarwala use his Livonia clinic after hours to carry out the procedures; and his wife, Farida Attar, who is accused of assisting Nagarwala in the examination room during the procedures and holding the girls' hands, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Prosecutors allege that Nagarwala subjected up to 100 girls to the procedure over a 12-year period, though they have cited nine victims in the case: two 7-year-old girls from Minnesota; four Michigan girls ages 8-12, including one who was given Valium ground up in liquid Tylenol during her procedure; and three Illinois girls, reports say.

U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman concluded that Congress did not have the authority to pass the 22-year-old federal law that criminalizes female genital mutilation in America in the new ruling, Freep said. FGM is banned worldwide and has been outlawed in more than 50 countries, though the U.S. statute had never been tested before this case.

Read the full story at the Detroit Free Press

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