For the first time, a doctor in Egypt will be prosecuted for practising female genital mutilation, in a landmark case for the country and for the ongoing battle to eradicate illegal occurrences of FGM.
Dr Rasian Fadl is facing charges after a 13-year-old girl, Sohair al-Bata, died following an alleged operation in his clinic in June 2013. FGM has been banned in Egypt since 2008, but it is still widely practised.
At first, it was claimed that Sohair was not a victim of FGM, but was in Dr Fadl's clinic being treated for genital warts, the Guardian reports.
As such, the case was initially dropped. However, after a campaign by a local rights group, the international organisation Eguality Now, and an investigation by Egypt's National Population Council, the case has been reopened and Fadl, as well as Sohair father will stand trial.
'It's the first time that somebody in Egypt will be prosecuted for this crime, and it should be a lesson for every clinician, said the head of the NPC, Hala Youssef. 'The law is there, and it will be implemented.'
Picture: Rex
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.