Federal prosecutors say they’ve identified three more young girls who traveled to Michigan to undergo genital-mutilation procedures, bringing the total number of victims in the case to nine. The Detroit Free Press reports the three were “elementary-school girls from Illinois” who were allegedly brought to Michigan by their mothers for the “religious cuttings,” with all of them being about 7 years old when they had their procedures performed in 2015. Two 7-year-olds from Minnesota and four Michigan girls between the ages of 8 and 12 are also included in the case, which is the first genital-mutilation case in the U.S. Eight people—including two doctors and four mothers—are facing charges. One girl said she was given “Valium ground up in liquid Tylenol” for the pain, while another said she could “barely walk” after the procedure due to her feeling pain “all the way down to her ankle.” The lead defendant, Dr. Jumana Nagarwala, is accused by prosecutors of performing genital mutilation on about 100 girls in 12 years.
Read it at The Detroit Free Press
