The teenager, from London, who cannot be identified, claims she was just 10 years old when her private parts were sliced with a razor blade as a punishment on two separate occasions

An alleged victim of female genital mutilation (FGM) told a court today how she begged her father to stop the 'terrible thing'.

The teenager, from London, who cannot be identified, claims she was just 10 years old when her private parts were sliced with a razor blade as a punishment on two separate occasions.

She said her father, a 50-year-old devout Christian, ignored her pleas and even 'egged on' the person cutting her at the family home.

The alleged victim told the Old Bailey: 'I was asked to lie down on a mat. I knew what was going to happen.

'I was begging stop, stop doing it because it was really painful. It did bleed a lot as well. He wouldn't listen. He would still encourage the person to do it.

'He just gave the person a signal to keep on doing it. I could feel the really deep cuts inside. I was just supposed to take it.'

She said she was not given any painkilling drugs and felt pain when she sat down or urinated in the days afterwards.

The teenager said she didn't understand what was really happening at the time because of her age.

'I would do something wrong and he would threaten me with it,' she said.

'He accused me of quite a lot of things I never did. A large sum of money went missing and I swear I never took it.'

She said she was cut twice in the same year and was later threatened with it without it happening.

'I can remember I definitely didn't want it to happen. I was crying and begging and I think I was told to lie down and be quiet and stop struggling,' she said.

The girl said she had never talked to her father about it and tried to forget about it.

She said she realised it was FGM after her school had two presentations on the issue.

The alleged victim later made anonymous internet posts about her experience before finally confiding in a friend, the court heard.

The alleged victim later made anonymous internet posts about her experience before finally confiding in a friend, the court heard. File photo posed by model

'I spent a few months thinking about it and I'm beginning to think it was a terrible thing he has done. I don't hate him, I just dislike him.'

The father is also accused of beating the girl and two other siblings using a stick and a slipper, it is claimed.

He denies the claims and suggests they are making up the allegations to 'get at him', jurors were told.

The suspect, from south London, denies two counts of female genital mutilation between 2010 and 2013, two alternative counts of wounding with intent and three counts of cruelty to a child.

The trial continues.