Fakhruddin and Farida Attar arrested and accused of aiding and abetting ER nurse Jumana Nagarwala in performing female genital mutilation at their clinic

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Federal authorities in Michigan have charged a Detroit-area physician and his wife over alleged involvement in a criminal conspiracy that involved performing female genital mutilation (FGM) on young girls.

'FGM happened to me in white, midwest America' Read more

The arrests were part of what is believed to be the first such prosecution in the US, and followed charges unveiled last week against a Detroit emergency room doctor, Jumana Nagarwala, who stands accused of performing the procedure on girls aged between six and eight years old.

Fakhruddin Attar, 53, and his wife, Farida Attar, 50, who run a clinic in the Detroit suburb of Livonia, are accused of conspiring with Nagarwala by allowing the doctor to use their premises to perform the illegal procedures after hours.

Farida Attar, the office manager at her husband’s clinic, is also accused of assisting Nagarwala during the operations.

Nagarwala has been detained and is awaiting trial. She faces up to life in prison. The trio are believed to be the first charged under a federal law that criminalises the procedure.

Fakhruddin Attar and Farida Attar were due to appear in federal court on Friday afternoon, charged with participating in the conspiracy and aiding and abetting the performance of FGM.

According to a criminal complaint, some of the girls who were taken to Attar’s clinic were brought by their families from other states.

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security investigations division (HSI) acted after receiving a tip-off that Nagarwala was performing FGM, according to court filings made available last week.

Investigators interviewed and examined two seven-year-old girls who appeared to have undergone FGM by Nagarwala in February this year. Telephone records, hotel bills and surveillance video were said to show that the girls traveled to Michigan with their mothers.

The criminal complaint filed on Friday referenced video evidence showing Nagarwala and Fakhruddin Attar communicating outside the clinic shortly before two of the victims, both from Minnesota, arrived on the premises.

One of the girls told a child forensic interviewer that she had been told she was going to see a doctor “to get the germs out”. She said Nagarwala “pinched” her genitals and that she was given a pad to place in her underwear.

The second girl said she screamed in pain after the procedure, and that afterward “she could barely walk, and that she felt pain all the way down to her ankle”.

A glove belonging to the second girl was later found in the clinic. Her parents told investigators they had taken the girl to see Nagarwala in Michigan for a “cleansing”.

Play Video 18:54 The girl who said no to FGM

“This new charge is helping to break the silence on FGM,” said Jessica Neuwirth, founder of the international women’s rights NGO Donor Direct Action.

“FGM is a US issue and we need to prevent it from happening in the first place. This means training teachers, health workers and the police to know what warning signs to look for in girls at risk.

“The Michigan courts will determine whether these doctors are guilty or not but either way, this case will hopefully send shockwaves throughout the country and help to eliminate this form of child abuse completely.”