This little girl should never have died. But a landmark ruling now means her death may not be in vain.
Sohair al-Bata’a was just 13 years old when she died a senseless and barbaric death.
The little girl, known as “Soo Soo”, passed away in 2013 during a female genital mutilation (FGM) procedure after suffering a horrific a “sharp drop in blood pressure resulting from shock trauma”, according to The Huffington Post’s translation of a report by Egyptian site Al Masry Al Youm.
And now, in a monumental win for women’s rights, the man responsible for her death — a doctor called Dr Rasdlan Fadl — has finally been convicted.
Dr Fadl performed the procedure in a small village northeast of Cairo after Soo Soo’s parents, froma small farming community on the outskirts of Mansoura, took her to him.
When the little girl died, Dr Fadl denied responsibility — claiming he had simply been removing a wart and that al-Bata had died from an allergic reaction to penicillin, according to The Huffington Post. Al Masry reports the doctor then offered the family 20,000 Egyptian pounds to keep quiet about the incident, the girl’s uncle Mohammed al-Bata’a alleged.
In a landmark case for Egypt, , which had never before seen someone prosecuted over the controversial practice, Dr Fadl was charged with manslaughter.
Related content: FGM: It’s happening right here.
Top Comments
I was just reading about a new program in Britain which tracks FMG hospital admissions. Shockingly, in the month of September 2014, 1279 active cases and 467 newly identified cases were reported (this was from only 125 of the 160 eligible trusts who reported their stats). To me, that sounds like a huge problem with multi-culturalism if this happens on a monthly basis, in a western country where FGM is illegal. I wonder (but doubt) if we have any stats on it here in Australia?
Much research has been done. FGM Is a practice that was present before Islam's start and is done in several Christian African countries. It is a cultural practice not religious.
I am a psychologist with training in this area, so I actually have knowledge to make these statements unlike previous comments.
I would hope people will from here on have a discussion rather than pontificating about the things they think they know, which actually is veiled discrimination towards Muslims.
Excuse me but what are you talking about? Care to name those several Christian countries?