The Mansoura Misdemeanour Court of Appeals adjourned Monday to 26 January the case of involuntary homicide of a 13-year-old girl from Mansoura during an alleged female genital mutilation (FGM) procedure.
Sohair Al-Batea died during an FGM procedure performed by a doctor, upon her parents’ request.
Al-Batea’s case is the first in Egypt where a doctor has been brought to trial on FGM charges. A first degree court acquitted both the doctor, Raslan Fadl, of mutilation and manslaughter, and the girl’s father Al-Batea Mohamed, who asked him to perform it.
That verdict came on 20 November, with no justification from the judge, as the verdict was declared in a court ledger, rather being announced in the court, according to The Guardian.
The prosecution appealed the verdict, and a court session for the appeal was scheduled first on 15 December, then adjourned to 22 December.
The parents and the doctor agreed on a settlement for Fadl to pay a compensatory sum, and upon this the first degree court ordered him to pay EGP 5,000 to Sohair’s mother.
Human Rights Watch said in a statement that followed the first verdict that Egypt “need[s] to take clear action to end the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) following the country’s first trial on the crime ending in acquittals”.
