London - A London
solicitor accused of forcing his daughter to undergo female
genital mutilation was acquitted on Thursday, increasing
pressure on police and prosecutors who have yet to secure a
conviction for FGM more than 30 years after it was outlawed.
The prosecution was only the second to be brought under FGM
legislation introduced in 1985.
During a nine-day trial at London's Central Criminal Court,
the prosecution alleged that the defendant had twice arranged
for someone to come to the family home to cut his daughter as a
form of punishment when she was around nine years old.
But the defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons,
said in an emotional testimony that the allegations were
fabrications arising from a very acrimonious divorce.
He said his wife had repeatedly threatened to destroy him
and had turned their children against him.
"I didn't cut my daughter. I would never hurt my
daughter," he told the jury. "I would give my life for my
children."
A medical expert confirmed the girl's genitalia had been cut
but said the scars were unusual and could not say when the
injuries occurred.
The 50-year-old lawyer, who comes from West Africa, said FGM
was not practiced in his community and he had no idea who had
cut his daughter. He was also cleared of three counts of child
cruelty.
Police and prosecutors have faced mounting pressure in
recent years to secure a conviction for FGM as part of broader
efforts to eradicate the practice, which usually involves the
partial or total removal of external genitalia.
An estimated 137 000 women and girls in England and Wales
have undergone FGM, which affects immigrant communities from
various countries including Somalia, Sierra Leone, Eritrea,
Sudan, Nigeria and Egypt.
Politicians and campaigners, who believe thousands of girls
in Britain are at risk of FGM, have said a successful
prosecution would act as a deterrent.
Prosecutors were criticised over the first FGM trial in 2015
when a doctor was accused of performing FGM while treating a
woman who had given birth. He was acquitted.
A leading obstetrician branded the trial a "ludicrous"
travesty of justice which would leave doctors on labour wards
terrified of touching women who had been subjected to FGM.
A second trial involving FGM – but brought under child
cruelty laws – collapsed last month.