Unless they work out a plea deal, two doctors and the wife of one of the physicians are headed to trial now that a federal grand jury has indicted them in a first-of-its kind federal prosecution involving female genital mutilation.
According to the indictment handed up today in U.S. District Court, Dr. Jumana Nagarwala cut the genitals of two girls from Minnesota with the help of another doctor who let her use his Livonia clinic to carry out the procedure and helped coordinate the girls' trip to Michigan.
That physician is Dr. Fakhruddin Attar, 53, who along with his wife, Farida Attar, 50, were indicted for their alleged roles in cuttings: the wife allegedly held the girls' hands during the procedure while the husband allegedly let Nagarwala use his clinic for the cuttings and helped bring the girls here.
All three are accused of trying to keep this practice a secret within their Indian-Muslim community.
"(They) instructed others not to speak about FGM procedures taht had taken place," the 13-page indictment states.
According to court documents, the Attars were arrested Friday morning at the Burhani Medical Clinic in Livonia, where two mothers allegedly brought their daughters in February to have the girls' genitals cut as part of a religious custom.
The Attars deny any wrongdoing. Their lawyers have said both are deeply religious, have clean records and were frightened following their arrests.
In addition to genital mutilation charges, Attar and Nagarwala are both charged with conspiracy to transport a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. If convicted, they could both get life in prison.
Nagarwala, who was arrested April 12, also has denied wrongdoing. Through her lawyer, she has admitted that she did perform procedures on the girls' genitalia, but that it wasn't cutting. Rather, Nagarwala has maintained, she only removed a membrane, wrapped it in gauze and gave it to the parents, who buried it following a religious custom.
All three defendants are part of a small, Indian-Muslim community known as the Dawoodi Bohra, which was at the center of an Australian genital-cutting prosecution that sent three people to prison in 2015.
All three remain locked up.
Nagarwala argued for bond, but U.S. Magistrate Mona Majzoup last week concluded she was a danger to society and a flight risk, so she ordered her to remain locked up pending the outcome of her case.
A detention hearing is set for 1 p.m. today for the Attar's, who have remain jailed since their arrest last Friday. Their lawyers will argue for bond but prosecutors plan to ask for detention.
Nagarwala, an emergency room doctor with the Henry Ford Health System, has been placed on leave. She is not accused of performing any genital mutilation at the hospital, but rather at the Livonia clinic owned by Attar.
The children's parents have not been charged. Minnesota authorities did remove both girls from their homes, though one of them has been returned to her parents. The other girl's child protective custody case remains under seal. It is not known if she has been returned to her parents yet.
