A British doctor, Dhanuson Dharmasena, 32 is under fire for female genital mutilation (FGM), otherwise known as female circumcision. Court told that Dr Dhanuson Dharmasena carried out procedure at a London hospital with encouragement from Hasan Mohamed
The
doctor, of Ilford, London, denies
the charge in what is the first prosecution of its kind in the UK. A second
man, Hasan Mohamed, 41, denies encouraging and abetting the offence.
Mounting
the first prosecution against someone for carrying out FGM in England and
Wales, the Crown alleged that Dr Dhanuson Dharmasena, a junior registrar in
obstetrics and gynaecology at the Whittington hospital, had mutilated a
24-year-old mother by the manner in which he had sewn her up after childbirth.
The
woman had undergone type 3 FGM – in which part of the labia are sewn together –
as a child in Africa (Somalia), and during labour the doctor had made two cuts
to her vaginal opening to ensure the safe delivery of her baby. When Dharmasena
sewed her up, a midwife warned him that what he had done was illegal. He asked
a consultant for advice, and the more senior doctor said it would be “painful
and humiliating” to remove the stitch he had made, and it remained in place,
the court heard.
“It
is the stitching back together by Dr Dharmasena which the prosecution says is
an offence under the act,” Kate Bex, prosecuting, told Southwark crown court.
Kate
Bex, also told jurors that FGM was "very dangerous for a woman's health
and psychological well-being".
"It
can lead to severe health problems and, in some cases, to death. FGM causes
gynaecological, urological and obstetric problems in women, chronic pain and
sexual dysfunction," she said.
"It
increases the risk of death in childbirth to both mother and baby."
The
doctor, who qualified in 2005, and began specialising in obstetrics and
gynaecology in 2008 told the court that he only obeyed the client’s wish.
He
said: "At no point in time did I intentionally or deliberately want to
cause any harm to the patient. I had obeyed all of the patient's wishes."
The
case continues…
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