Court Hears Doctor Performed FGM On New Mum

A young woman was mutilated after giving birth at a London hospital,
a court has heard, in the first ever prosecution of its kind.
Dhanuson Dharmasena - a doctor at the Whittington Hospital in north
London - is accused of carrying out female genital mutilation (FGM)
on the woman shortly after she gave birth.
If found guilty, he could face up to 14 years in prison.
A second man, Hasan Mohamed, 41, is charged with encouraging and
abetting the offence.
On the first day of the trial at London's Southwark Crown Court, the
jury heard how the woman, named only as "AB" to protect her
identity, first underwent the procedure at the age of six in an African
country where she was born.
The woman, now 27, had her labia sewn up, making intercourse
impossible. That was then partially reversed at another London
hospital, and she went on to conceive her first child.
But the court heard that once in labour in November 2012, her
remaining stitches had to be cut open.
After she had given birth, Dharmasena then sewed her back up, in a
procedure that amounted to FGM, the court heard.
The doctor, who was junior registrar in obstetrics and gynaecology,
acted at the request of Mr Mohamed, said Kate Bex QC, prosecuting.
"It is that stitching back together by Dr Dharmasena, and Mr
Mohamed's insistence or encouragement, which the prosecution says
is an offence," Ms Bex told jurors.
"What Dr Dharmasena did, by stitching back together the labia, was
against the policy of his employer, the Whittington Hospital.
"That policy is written and available to all midwives, nurses,
obstetricians and students at the Whittington and Dr Dharmasena
was expected to be aware of it."
AB's case came to light after a midwife realised that what was
happening "was illegal", jurors heard.
The trial comes amid a growing campaign against FGM, which is
believed to affect as many as 137,000 women in the UK.
Both defendants deny the charges.