A three-year-old girl required emergency surgery after a man and a woman allegedly performed a botched female genital mutilation (FGM) at their home in east London. The pair, aged 42 and 36, appeared at Thames Magistrates' Court on Friday facing multiple charges.
Both defendants are accused of FGM and failing to protect a girl from the risk of genital mutilation on 28 August last year. The girl was rushed to hospital soon after the alleged incident, with the couple reportedly blaming the injuries on a household accident.
The woman, a Ugandan national, also faces charges of possessing an extreme pornographic image showing a person having sex with dogs, and of publishing videos of sexual activity with a dog and a snake. The man, from Ghana, is charged with possessing an extreme pornographic image showing a person having sex with a horse and a snake, and of publishing videos of sexual activity with dogs. He is also accused of possessing indecent videos of a child, while the woman faces a charge of distributing an indecent video of children.
The pair were remanded in custody and are next due to appear at the Old Bailey on 31 August. This case is only the third to be brought to trial involving FGM charges, despite the practice being illegal in the UK since 1985.
FGM involves the partial or total removal of female genitalia for non-medical reasons. It is illegal in the UK, and it is also illegal to take a female abroad for FGM. The maximum jail term for carrying out or enabling FGM is 14 years.
