FGM: 1st suspects to be charged seem in court

Dr Dhanuson Dharmasena, one particular of two suspects charged with carrying out FGM on a female after she had offered birth. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Photos

Two males have appeared in court for the first female genital mutilation (FGM) prosecution in the Uk. Dr Dhanuson Dharmasena, 31, from Whittington hospital, north London, and Hasan Mohamed, forty, who is not a medical specialist, face the 1st charges brought below the Female Genital Mutilation Act (2003) in the landmark situation.

Dharmasena is accused of carrying out the procedure on a female after she had provided birth in November 2012. It is alleged that he repaired the FGM that had previously been carried out on the patient, after being encouraged and aided by Mohamed.

Lawyers defending both guys told Westminster magistrates court that the pair would plead not guilty. Dharmasena, wearing a grey suit, spoke only to confirm his name and deal with. Mohamed, sporting a grey hooded best and a scarf close to his neck, gave his name. His address was not read out in court. Both guys were granted unconditional bail and are next due to appear at Southwark crown court on two May possibly.

Carrying out FGM has been a criminal offence in the United kingdom since 1985, but there has but to be a prosecution. In a pre-trial statement, the director of public prosecutions Alison Saunders explained: “It was alleged that following a patient providing birth in November 2012, a medical professional at the Whittington hospital in London, repaired FGM that had previously been carried out on the patient, allegedly carrying out FGM himself.”

FGM has come beneath the spotlight in recent months right after activists stepped up their campaign against it. Earlier this month education secretary Michael Gove wrote to all headteachers after a Guardian-backed petition, which known as for education to be put at the heart of tackling the practice, attracted far more than 230,000 signatures. Gove sent a letter to all headteachers in England alerting them to guidelines made to maintain young children risk-free, which includes advice on FGM.

A Department for Schooling spokeswoman said Gove would keep up stress on colleges by flagging up the dangers of FGM once more in his yearly “back to college” letter in September.

The Guardian-backed campaign, led by 17-12 months-old Brighton schoolgirl Fahma Mohamed, was supported by the UN secretary basic, Ban Ki-moon, and Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, as well as signatories from about the globe.

FGM is believed to influence up to 140 million girls throughout the world and an estimated 66,000 girls in the United kingdom, with up to 24,000 ladies below 15 believed to be at threat.

FGM: 1st suspects to be charged seem in court