Man and woman taken into custody after south London school raises concerns that one of its pupils had been taken abroad

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A man and woman have been arrested in connection with the suspected genital mutilation of a girl.



A 49-year-old woman was arrested at Heathrow airport after she arrived on a flight from Nairobi, Kenya, at 5am on Wednesday. She was accompanied by an eight-year-old girl who has been placed in protective care, Scotland Yard said.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan police refused to confirm whether the child travelling with the woman was the suspected victim of FGM perpetrated overseas.

A 45-year-old man, who was not on the flight, was also arrested at the airport. The suspects have been taken into custody at a south London police station on suspicion of helping a foreign national to commit FGM overseas.

The pair were arrested after an application for a FGM prevention order from the Camberwell child abuse investigation team.

Police were alerted after a south London school raised concerns that one of its pupils had failed to attend school and was believed to have been taken to Somalia.