A Ugandan mother in the first conviction for FGM in the UK: The Standard

A London mother was convicted of submitting her 3-year-old daughter to female bad mutilation on Friday during the first UK conviction for FGM – more than 30 years after the ban on the practice.
The Ugandan mother of two, who can not be appointed for legal reasons, could be sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Police and anti-FGM activists said that the conviction sent a strong message that FGM was child abuse and would be prosecuted.

SEE ALSO:10 Women Arrested in Narok for Submitting Girls to Female Genital Mutilation

"It will send a shockwave into the community. It's a wake up call. This will have a huge deterrent effect, "said activist Hibo Wardere at the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
British Interior Minister Sajid Javid praised this "historic condemnation".
"Female bad mutilation is a disgusting, depraved form of child abuse, and we will do everything in our power to ensure that all perpetrators are brought to justice," he tweeted.
Judge Philippa Whipple adjourned her sentence until March 8.
Police opened an investigation after the girl's parents took her to the hospital on August 28, 2017, following severe bleeding, and the doctors found three cuts to her bads.

SEE ALSO:The rope among seniors to lead the campaign against FGM

In the following months, the mother practiced dozens of sorcery spells – two involving cow tongues with nails embedded in them – to try to silence the investigators and the director of public prosecutions.
The girl's Ghanaian father, who was also facing trial, was acquitted of FGM and failed to protect her daughter from FGM.
During the trial, the 37-year-old mother told the London Central Criminal Court that her daughter had been injured in a work accident while falling from a kitchen worktop in their eastern apartment. from London.
But the girl told the police that she had been restrained and cut off by a "witch". His older brother then wrote to the police to tell him that his mother had cut him off.
Four doctors, including two of the leading experts in FGM, said the cuts were done with a sharp tool such as a scalpel and could not be explained by a fall.

SEE ALSO:The fear of curses pushing parents to excise their daughters

The obstetrician who treated the girl told the jury that her injuries were like cases of botched female bad mutilation that he had seen in his native Sudan.
The court heard the mother turn to witchcraft to try to stop police investigations after her arrest.
In addition to the language of the cows, the police found in a freezer at home 40 lemons containing the names of the people involved in the case, with messages such as "I freeze your mouth" and "I freeze you with my life".
"Cape of secrecy"
The mother, a former caregiver, stated that she was not from an ethnic group practicing female bad mutilation and that no motive had been given in court .

SEE ALSO:Kericho's parents warned against increasing the number of FGMs

An expert in FGM said that this practice was not related to witchcraft.

Related Topics

FGMGeneral Genital FemaleUK FGM CaseUgandan Mom