US doc charged with genital mutilation on girls

NEW YORK: A US doctor in Detroit has been arrested and charged with carrying out female genital mutilation on girls aged six to eight, prosecutors said Thursday.

Emergency room doctor Jumana Nagarwala, 44, of Northville, Michigan, is accused of carrying out the widely condemned practice – illegal in the United States – for 12 years from a medical office in Livonia, Michigan.

She appeared in a US federal court in Detroit on Thursday and was remanded into custody until at least Monday, said a spokeswoman for the US attorney’s office. If convicted at trial she faces a maximum sentence of life behind bars. — AFP