Egyptian Doctor Serves Only 3 Months for Killing 13-Year-Old Girl During FGM

It's been said time and time again that female genital circumcision (FGM) is a crime and is punishable by law. The first doctor to be convicted is Raslan Fadl, who just served a three-month sentence, after a fatal dose of anesthesia led to the Mansourian 13-year-old Soheir al-Bataa's death during the procedure.According to BBC, Fadl continued practicing after his conviction; however, following more pressure from activists and human rights organisations, his medical license was revoked. Fadl, of course, is not the only one guilty of this crime – al-Bataa's father also faced conviction, and was given a three-month suspended sentence, because the 13-year-old was forced to undergo FGM by him.

The father, being a partner in this crime, is what led Fadl to be able to appeal his two-year sentence of involuntary manslaughter, after a reconciliation with al-Bataas, and only serve the three-month sentence for carrying out a circumcision procedure – which he initially denied, saying it was a treatment for warts and that her death was due to an allergic reaction to penicillin.

The leniency of the sentence, being only a few months, is frightening, especially when UNICEF reported that 70 per cent of women in Egypt were circumcised in 2015, dropping from a 97 per cent rate in 1985. The phenomena is still prevalent in Egypt but many institutions continue work towards the eradication of the harmful tradition that leads to thousands of deaths each year.