Parents In Genital Cutting Case Could Lose Custody Of Kids

A Metro Detroit doctor and his wife at the center of a historic female genital mutilation case could have their parental rights stripped amid allegations that they subjected their now 9-year-old daughter to the controversial genital cutting procedure. Michigan Child Protective Services requested an emergency hearing regarding the placement of the daughter of Dr. Fakhruddin Attar and Farida Attar, who are accused in federal court of conspiring with Dr. Jumana Nagarwala, 44, of Northville, to use their Livonia clinic to perform FGM procedures on two 7-year-old girls from Minnesota.

CPS agreed to allow the Attars’ daughter to remain in her Farmington Hills home under the supervision of her grandparents, according to media reports. Another set of grandparents and an uncle are expected to arrive soon.

Two more more families who are members of the of the small Shia Muslim sect known as Dawoodi Bohra are scheduled to appear in Oakland County Circuit Court on Tuesday on emergency child placement orders as the federal investigation into sexual mutilation widens to include parents who allegedly allowed the procedures. The parents in those two cases have not been criminally charged, according to reports.

Condemned worldwide as a violation of girls’ and women’s rights, the procedure aimed at suppressing their sexual desires has been illegal in the United States for more than two decades. The case against Nagarwala and the Attars is first court test of the law criminalizing genital mutilation.

Nagarwala could go to prison for life if convicted of the most serious of the felonies she’s charged with — transporting a minor child with the intent to engage in sexual conduct — and the Attars could be jailed for years on conspiracy and related charges. All three are locked up after a federal magistrate denied bond.

It’s unclear if Nagarwala and her husband are among the Dawoodi Bohra families at risk of losing their parental rights, but the Detroit Free Press reported last week that Nagarwala performed FGM on her daughter two years ago when the girl was 9. Several other parental custody cases stemming from FGM procedures allowed by Dawoodi Bohra families are pending in Metro Detroit, The Detroit News reported.

Dawoodi Bohra community members told the Free Press of daughters who have been pulled from class without their knowledge and subjected to CPS interrogations and medical examinations to determine if their genitals had been cut.

See Also

• Detroit Doctor Accused Of Female Genital Mutilation Of Young Girls
• Genital Mutilation A Religious Ritual, Detroit Doctor’s Attorney Says
• Second Doctor, Wife Charged in Historic Genital Mutilation Case
• Henry Ford Hospital Fires Doctor In Genital Mutilation Case

Nagarwala’s lawyer has described the procedure as a religious custom that does not involve cutting, but is rather simple removal of a membrane, and says the U.S. government is persecuting Nagarwala for being a Muslim. Medical examinations substantiated that cutting occurred, according to court documents.

Attorney Mary Chartier, who represents the Attars, reiterated the same religious persecution argument in Monday’s hearing before juvenile court referee Karla Mallett, who rejected it, the Free Press reported.

“It may be a religious act in their country, but in this country, it is illegal,” Mallett said.

Attorney Karen Cook, who Mallett appointed as guardian ad litem to protect and represent Attar girl’s interests, asked the referee to deny communication between the girl and her parents until she has a chance to interview the child. However, Chartier persuaded Mallett to allow communication through phone calls and videos, saying it would increase the trauma she has already suffered as a result of the separation from her parents.

“This is a little girl .... her parents have been ripped from her,” Chartier said.

Anjuman-e-Najmi Detroit, an organization managing the affairs of the local Dawoodi Bohra community, said in a statement Friday that it condemns the practice and encourages its members to follow U.S. law:

“The Dawoodi Bohras do not support the violation of any U.S. law, local, state or federal. We offer our assistance to the investigating authorities. Any violation of U.S. law is counter to instructions to our community members. It does not reflect the everyday lives of the Dawoodi Bohras in America. It is an important rule of the Dawoodi Bohras that we respect the laws of the land, wherever we live. This is precisely what we have done for several generations in America. We remind our members regularly of their obligations. The last such reminder made by the Detroit congregation was in May 2016, and by the Minneapolis congregation in March 2016. It is unfortunate if anyone has not abided by the laws of the country. We are a long-established, well-integrated, successful community in the United States, comprising 12,000 people, many of whom have been settled here since the 1950s. We take our religion seriously but our culture is modern and forward-looking. We are proud that women from our community have high levels of educational attainment and enjoy successful, professional careers.”

Photo of Dr. Fakhruddin Attar via St. Joseph Mercy Health System