LONDON, March 21 (UPI) -- A doctor at a London hospital faces charges of carrying out female genital mutilation, prosecutors said Friday.
Dr. Dhanuson Dharmasena, 31, on the staff of the Whittington Hospital, and another man, Hasan Mohamed, 40, who allegedly encouraged the procedure, are the first people to be charged under a decade-old law prohibiting genital mutilation, the Daily Telegraph reported.
The Crown Prosecution Service said charges are being considered in four other cases, three of them old cases that are being reviewed. The new case involves parents who arranged for the daughter to undergo genital mutilation abroad, while one of the previous ones involves a man who called a help line for victims to try to arrange the procedure for his daughters.
Dharmasena allegedly performed genital mutilation on a patient who was recovering from childbirth. He and Mohammed are scheduled to appear before a magistrate on April 15.
