Judge locks up doctor, wife in genital mutilation case

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Detroit – A federal magistrate Wednesday ordered a Farmington Hills doctor and his wife jailed without bond pending trial, saying they are a danger to girls victimized in the country’s first female genital mutilation case.

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U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Stafford made the ruling after a two-hour hearing that featured defense attacks on the government’s evidence and provided new details on a case drawing international attention about a secretive, illegal procedure practiced by a small sect of Shia Muslims from India.

Dr. Fakhruddin Attar and his wife, Farida Attar, did not react to the magistrate’s order, which deemed the couple a flight risk. They are accused of committing female genital mutilation, trying to cover up the crime and conspiring with Northville Dr. Jumana Nagarwala to cut girls as part of a procedure practiced by their religious and cultural community, the Dawoodi Bohra.

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“My overriding concern is the evidence of ... (a) cover up as the government is reaching out to parents of young girls, and evidence that suggests the defendants tried to actively discourage them from coming forward,” Stafford said.

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The order comes as federal prosecutors and agents from the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations hunt for more victims of female genital mutilation and await medical tests on other girls. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Woodward has referenced three victims from Michigan and at least one more girl who allegedly underwent the procedure.

Woodward said there are countless numbers of victims. But as of Wednesday, the Attars and Nagarwala are only charged with mutilating the genitalia of two girls during a 12-year alleged conspiracy.

“They are the last in a long line of victims,” Woodward told the magistrate.

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