Doctor gets bail in FGM case

An Egyptian court has released a doctor who was detained for performing a genital cutting procedure on a 12-year-old girl who bled to death last month. The gynaecologist was granted bail of $3 000 by the court in Manfalout, about 400km south of Cairo. A report on the News24 site notes that prosecutors say he conducted the illegal procedure alone in his clinic ‘without any anaesthetic or nurse present’. Known by her first name Nada in local media, the victim's death sparked an outcry online and in Egyptian media. The National Council for Women, which first received the complaint from the authorities, called for the ‘maximum punishment for all who participated in this crime’. Dar Al Ifta, the Egyptian body tasked with Islamic religious edicts, has released a statement condemning FGM, deeming it ‘forbidden’ in Islamic law.