Hege Storhaug, HRS
I april avdekket Sunday Times at en tannlege og en lege tilbyr å kjønnslemleste jentebarn mot betaling. De skjulte opptakene overleverte avisen til politiet. Nå har avisen også navngitt to av personene de festet på opptakene, tannlegen Omar Sheikh Mohamed Addow (55) og legen Ali Mao-Aweys (61).
Da avsløringene kom var jeg ikke særlig overbevist om at politiet ville gå til aksjon. Men nå som avisen identifiserer denne tannlegen og legen, kan politiet ha sett seg nødt til å gå til arrestasjoner.
I Europa har, så vidt jeg har registrert, kun én person tidligere vært dømt for å praktisere kjønnslemlestelse. Dette skjedde i Frankrike i februar 1999, da den afrikanske kvinnen Mama Greou, fikk åtte års ubetinget fengsel for å ha lemlestet 48 jenter i Paris. Mama Greou ble ikke minst dømt til fengsel fordi en ung kvinne vitnet mot Greou. Hun hadde selv sett at Greou kjønnslemlestet barn i sin egen families leilighet.
Dentist Dr Omar Sheikh Mohamed Addow, 55, and Dr Ali Mao-Aweys, a 61 year-old GP, were being questioned following the series of raids on addresses in Birmingham.
West Midlands Police said the pair was held over claims that the illegal procedure, known as FGM, was being offered for money throughout the city.
On Friday, the pair was being questioned by detectives from force’s Public Protection Unit on suspicion of offences contrary to the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003.
Police declined to «confirm or deny» the pair’s identity, but the arrests come a fortnight after they were named by the Sunday Times, which had conducted an undercover investigation into the allegations.
Officers raided properties on Stratford Road, Sparkhill, Trafalgar Road, Moseley and Kingstanding Road, Kingstanding, at 9am on Friday.
Police confirmed the raids were undertaken following the publication of an article in News International title last month.
Detective Inspector Caroline Marsh, who is leading the investigation, said officers were taking the allegations seriously.
“We are still in the very early stages of this investigation but I hope this morning’s action sends out a clear message about how seriously we are taking these allegations.
“We are actively working together with our partner agencies to investigate reports of female genital mutilation (FGM) and raise awareness of the practice amongst both professionals and communities, in order to identify and safeguard potential victims.
«I want to reassure people that we thoroughly investigate all allegations of FGM and I would encourage anyone who may have any information about this illegal practice to contact police.»
The arrests come after the newspaper reported that as many as 100,000 women in Britain have undergone female genital mutilations with medics in Britain offering to carry out the illegal procedure on girls as young as 10.
Investigators said they secretly filmed the doctor, dentist and alternative medicine practitioner in London who were allegedly willing to perform circumcisions or arrange for the operation to be carried out.