Judge rules ban on female genital mutilation as unconstitutional in landmark case against doctors accused of controversial procedure
A federal judge has dismissed, on November 20, the charges of female mutilation against several doctors ruling that the law is unconstitutional. This is considered the first criminal case of its kind nationwide. The decision made by US District Judge Bernard Friedman came only two weeks after defense lawyers made the first case against a 22-year-old genital mutilation law which was not used until April 2017. This was when Dr. Jumana Nagarwala from Northville was arrested and subsequently accused of being the head of a conspiracy that went on for 12 years.
The Detroit News reported that the conspiracy also involved seven other people and it led to the genital mutilation of nine girls as part of a religious procedure that is still practiced by some members of the Dawoodi Bohra, which is a Muslim sect from India that has a small community living in Metro Detroit.