A Michigan-based doctor and her associates mutilated the genitals of as many as 100 girls before being caught, a prosecutor told a federal court Wednesday.

The startling allegation occurred during court proceedings involving a case against Dr. Jumana Nagarwala, who is facing charges for mutilating the genitals of two Minnesota girls.

“Due to the secretive nature of this procedure, we are unlikely to ever know how many children were cut by Dr. (Jumana) Nagarwala,” said U.S. Attorney Sara Woodward, according to the Detroit Free Press. “The Minnesota victims were not the first victims.”

Nagarwala is alleged to have cut the genitals of the girls as part of a religious rite of passage. The two girls are believed to have been told to keep the practice a secret. (RELATED: Lawyer Cites Muslims’ Religious Practice In Defense Of Female Genital Mutilation. Here’s Why It Won’t Work)

U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman granted bond to Dr. Fakhruddin Attar and his wife, Farida Attar. Dr. Attar is accused of allowing Nagarwala to use his clinic, located just outside Detroit, to engage in the mutilations, while his wife allegedly held the girls’ hands down during the procedure.

The group’s activities were discovered by an FBI investigation, which led to the Justice Department filing charges against them in April.

Girls as young as six years old were involved in the secretive operations, according to an FBI criminal complaint.

The prosecution claimed that the three defendants engaged in the mutilations over a 12 year period. All are part of the same Indian-Muslim sect, known as the Dawoodi Bohra. Some cultures consider female genital mutilation to be a “necessary part of raising a girl, and a way to prepare for adulthood and marriage,” according to the World Health Organization. (RELATED: NYT Refuses To Use The Term ‘Genital Mutiliation’ Because It’s Culturally Loaded’)

Mary Chartier, a lawyer for the Attars, denied any criminal activity, and argued the practice is protected as a religious act that involves no cutting, only scraping of the girls’ genitals.

“I think the government has overstated so many aspects of this case, and this is one more example of overreaching,” said Chartier after the hearing.

The Attars will be forced to surrender their passports and will be put under house arrest with GPS monitors. They will only be allowed to leave home for approved visits to doctors and their lawyers. Nagarwala remains in custody.

Nagarwala and Dr. Attar could face life in prison, if convicted, while Mrs. Attar could be given up to 20 years. Trial is set for October 10.

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