According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Woodward, the federal government estimates that up to 100 girls, and possibly more, have had their genitals cut by Muslim doctors in Michigan. However, the estimate is considered conservative and there could be many more victims.
“Due to the secretive nature of this procedure, we are unlikely to ever know how many children were cut by Dr. (Jumana) Nagarwala,” Woodward said. “The Minnesota victims were not the first victims.”
Dr. Nagarwala, as TruthRevolt previously reported, is the lead defendant in the case and stands accused of performing female genital mutilation on multiple young victims, including one 7-year-old girl who was brought to the female doctor from Minnesota. The young girl was told by her family that she was going on a “special girl’s trip” and was going “to get the germs out.”
The attorney disclosed the latest, harrowing numbers of victims to the judge in hopes to convince him to lock up another doctor and his wife. Dr. Fakhurddin Attar, 53, and Farida Attar, 50, own a clinic and allowed Nagarwala use it for FGM procedures. Farida Attar reportedly helped hold the girls’ hands during the cutting to keep them from squirming.
The Detroit Free Press notes:
The government believes the three defendants, all members of a local Indian-Muslim sect, subjected numerous girls to genital cutting procedures over a 12-year period. To date, the government says it has identified eight victims — including the two Minnesota girls — though Woodward said the government estimates there could be as many as 100 victims. She said that’s a conservative estimate, and that it’s 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 for genital rashes.
U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman granted bond to the Attars against Woodward’s wishes, but on the following conditions: they must surrender their passports, remain under house arrest with ankle bracelets, and refrain from communicating with anyone except their lawyers and family. The couple is also not allowed to live with their minor daughter and the state is looking to take away their parental rights altogether.
Nagarwala remains behind bars and both doctors face sentences of life in prison. Attar’s wife faces 20 years. The trial will begin in October.
More than 200 million girls and women alive today have been cut in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where FGM is concentrated, according to the World Health Organization. And now it’s happening in the United States.
