Jumana Nagarwala

Dr. Jumana Nagarwala is an Indian-American physician who, in 2017, became the first person charged under the United States law criminalizing female genital mutilation.[1] Nagarwala is a Dawoodi Bohra, a member of the only religious community in India to regularly practice FGM.[2]

Accusations

Nagarwala, licensed in Michigan, was accused of cutting the genitals of two Minnesota girls who traveled to Michigan with their mothers on what they had been told was a "special girls' trip".[3] They were instead taken to a clinic in Livonia, where Nagarwala operated on them. According to the indictment against her, she is also accused of being complicit in the transportation of minors across state lines in order to commit a sexual crime on them (18 U.S. Code § 2423), because two of her alleged victims were brought by their parents from Minnesota to Michigan for the procedure, and the parents communicated with her several times before bringing them. She faces a possible sentence of life in prison if convicted of transportation; also each of the mutilation charges carries a possible five-year sentence (18 U.S. Code § 116); additionally, she is accused of lying to a Federal law-enforcement agent about female genital mutilation (18 U.S. Code § 1001) and conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding by advising others to lie too, and by deleting electronic communications concerning mutilation. (18 U.S. Code § 1512) .[4] The criminal complaint also states that several other young girls have informed Child Protective Services that Nagarwala has operated on their genitals, although the criminal complaint and indictment only directly accuse her of mutilating two girls.

She was denied bail on the grounds that the court considers her a danger to the community and a flight risk.[5]

The owners of the clinic where the mutilations were allegedly done, Dr. Fakhruddin Attar and his wife, Farida Attar, have been arrested and accused of being accomplices.[6][7]

On June 14, 2017, a fourth individual, Tahera Shafiq of Wayne County, was arrested and charged with assisting in mutilations. On June 21, 2017, additional ("superseding") charges were filed, and the mothers of two of the alleged victims were charged with arranging for their daughters to be mutilated, bringing the total to six defendants. The two mothers are Farida Arif and Fatema Dahodwala, both of Oakland County. Also, four more young alleged victims were identified, although their names are being withheld.[8][9]

Education and professional experience

She earned her medical degree from Johns Hopkins, graduating in 1998.[2]

She has worked as an assistant director of the emergency medicine residency program at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.[2]

References

  1. ↑ https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmi/press-release/file/957376/download
  2. 1 2 3 https://www.forbes.com/sites/ritarubin/2017/04/14/doctor-charged-with-female-genital-mutilation-has-published-research-overseen-residents/#cc43ce162241
  3. ↑ http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2017/04/13/doctor-charged-genital-mutilation/100416734/
  4. ↑ https://www.unitedstatescourts.org/federal/mied/319679/16-0.html
  5. ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4421648/Detroit-doctor-charged-genital-mutilation-denied-bail.html
  6. ↑ http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2017/04/21/two-more-doctors-charges-with-female-genital-mutilation-on-girls-6-8-years-old/
  7. ↑ http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/midwest/ct-detroit-female-genital-mutilation-case-20170421-story.html
  8. ↑ https://www.scribd.com/document/351937661/New-female-genital-mutilation-indictment
  9. ↑ http://www.indiawest.com/news/global_indian/two-more-detroit-michigan-area-women-charged-in-genital-mutilation/article_df81a304-584c-11e7-b8ba-b3f14cc8e035.html
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