The mother of a three-year-old girl has become the first person in the UK to be found guilty of female genital mutilation (FGM).<\/p>\n
The 37-year-old woman, from east London, was convicted following a trial at the Old Bailey.<\/p>\n
Her 34-year-old partner was acquitted by the jury.<\/p>\n
Spells and curses intended to deter police and social workers from investigating were found at the Ugandan woman’s home, the trial heard.<\/p>\n
The defendants, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, denied FGM and an alternative charge of failing to protect a girl from risk of genital mutilation.<\/p>\n
The mother wept in the dock as she was convicted.<\/p>\n
Mrs Justice Whipple warned of a “lengthy” jail term as she remanded the woman into custody to be sentenced on 8 March.<\/p>\n
FGM – intentionally altering or injuring the female external genitalia for non-medical reasons – carries a sentence of up to 14 years in jail.<\/p>\n
During the trial, the woman claimed her daughter “fell on metal and it’s ripped her private parts” after she had climbed to get a biscuit.<\/p>\n
The woman told a police officer her daughter was not wearing underwear when it happened.<\/p>\n
The child was taken to Whipps Cross Hospital, in Leytonstone, where she “lost a significant amount of blood as a result of the injuries they had delivered and inflicted on her”, jurors were told.<\/p>\n
It is only the fourth FGM prosecution brought to court in the UK, after three others in London and one in Bristol.<\/p>\n
The previous three cases led to acquittals.<\/p>\n
Source:\u00a0World Health Organization<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"