A father and a doctor have been convicted for the death of a 13-year-old girl in a female genital mutilation (FGM) operation.
An appeal court sentenced the doctor to two years in prison with hard labour for involuntary manslaughter and a fine of LE500 (around $68).
While both the father and the doctor received a three-month prison sentence on FGM charges. The father’s sentence is suspended for three years.
The doctor’s clinic, in which he performed the FGM, was also ordered to close for one year.
This is the first FGM trial since a law banned the practice in 2008.
Soheir El-Bataa, from Daqahliya governorate, died while the doctor performed the operation on her in June 2013.
In November, a misdemeanor court acquitted both the father and doctor and said the criminal case had “expired” after “reconciliation,” and ruled that the doctor must pay LE5, 000 as compensation to the mother, who is the plaintiff.
Although banned, female genital mutilation is still prevalent in Egypt, with 91 percent of women between the ages of 15 and 49 subjected to the practice, according to a 2008 study by the Egyptian Demographic Health Survey (EDHS), under the direct supervision of the health ministry.
The study showed that FGM was more prevalent in rural communities than in cities – 96 percent of girls in the countryside had undergone FGM, as opposed to 85 percent in urban environments.