CAIRO: Ahmed Gad Al-Karim was arrested for circumcising an 11-year-old girl in Minya, marking the first arrest of its kind after the practice was criminalized last year, according to the Ministry of Family and Population.
Al-Karim, 69, was charged with inflicting injury on an 11-year-old girl after a local hospital notified the police.
The young girl suffered heavy bleeding after the procedure and was hospitalized. Al-Karim told local press that he performed the operation at the girl’s house using a scalpel, after being paid LE 150 by the girl’s mother.
Minister of Family and Population Moushira Khattab has been working on raising awareness on the issue, especially in rural areas.
However, efforts to combat the practice had started long before the ministry was formed earlier this year, by the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM), also headed by Khattab.
In June 2008, the NCCM proposed a new child law to the People’s Assembly that included a clause to be added to Article 7, criminalizing Female Genital Mutilation procedures and setting a prison sentence of three months to two years or a fine ranging between LE 1,000­ and 5,000.
Controversy loomed over the law at the time, with the Muslim Brotherhood and numerous conservative officials opposing criminalizing FGM, deeming it a matter of choice that is up to the family.
Sheikh Mahmoud Ashour, member of the Islamic Research Council and former Deputy of Al-Azhar, hopes the arrest will set an example for other people and discourage them from this malpractice which is prohibited in Islam even though some claim otherwise.
