A Detroit emergency department doctor has been arrested and charged with performing female genital mutilation on young girls at a medical clinic in Livonia. It’s part of a primitive religious rite in some cultures.
Dr. Jumana Nagarwala of Northville, is charged with performing female genital mutilation (FGM) on two 7 year old girls at a medical office in Livonia.
Nagarwala is an emergency department physician at Henry Ford Hospital. She was placed on administrative leave. Henry Ford Health System emphasizes the crimes did not occur at their hospital.
Nagarwala does not work at the unnamed Livonia medical clinic where the procedures were performed. The children were brought by their mothers from Minnesota, according to authorities.
Investigators said surveillance video from Feb. 3 at a hotel in Farmington Hills showed two adult women and two young girls checking into two rooms. Officials believe that the two young girls were victims of FGM performed by Nagarwala. Nagarwala denied performing the procedures.
The court complaint says the doctor is suspected of doing the procedures going back 10 years. The nationalities of the victims and their families are not specified in the complaint.
The doctor is a U-S citizen. She reportedly obtained her medical degree from Johns Hopkins University.
In some Middle Eastern and African countries, genital mutilation is considered a rite of passage. In countries such as Djibouti, Egypt and Somalia, more than 90% of girls undergo some form of gender mutilation.