Friday, 29 March, 2024
HomeMedico-LegalDoctor and parents charged over fatal FGM case in Egypt

Doctor and parents charged over fatal FGM case in Egypt

A retired doctor and the parents of a 12-year-old girl who died after female genital mutilation (FGM) surgery are to stand trial in Egypt, with child rights campaigners calling for jail terms to deter others from the illegal practice. Prosecutor-General Hamada El-Sawy has ordered the referral of the trio to the criminal court.

A report on the IoL site notes that Dr Abdel Rashwan and the parents of Nada Hassan Abdel-Maqsoud were arrested last month after her death at a private clinic in Manfalout. They were then released on bail which caused public outrage. “It is a serious step towards putting the defendants behind bars,” said Randa Fakhr el Deen, executive director of the NGOs Union Against Harmful Practices on Women and Children.

Genital cutting was banned in Egypt in 2008 but a 2016 survey by the UN Children's Fund found 87% of women and girls aged 15-49 had undergone the ritual.

Most genital cutting in Egypt is carried out by doctors and nurses at private clinics, with the rest done at home, according to the Egypt Demographic and Health Survey of 2014. But prosecutors said the hospital where the girl died had not had a license since August 2016, was ill equipped, and its operations room did not meet the terms for combating infection.

[link url="https://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/parents-and-doctor-face-trial-in-egypt-for-girls-death-after-genital-cutting-43344351"]Full IoL report[/link]

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