(Detroit News) A Northville doctor charged in the nation’s first female genital mutilation case tried to get one of the last charges against her dismissed Thursday.
Dr. Jumana Nagarwala wants a judge to dismiss a conspiracy charge involving two 7-year-old Minnesota girls who were brought to Metro Detroit for what prosecutors call an illegal procedure performed by the Northville doctor. The procedure is practiced by some members of the Dawoodi Bohra, a Muslim sect from India that has a small community in Metro Detroit.
The request came nine days after U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman dismissed female genital mutilation charges against Nagarwala and others. The judge’s order was a significant, but not fatal, blow to a novel criminal case because Friedman left intact conspiracy and obstruction charges that could send Nagarwala and three others to federal prison for decades.
