Circumcision of Iraqi girl lands man in prison in Britain

Heba Press/. Agencies

A British court has sentenced a 47-year-old man to four and a half years in prison after finding him guilty of plotting to circumcise a young girl by sending her to Iraq to undergo the procedure.

The prosecution said on Thursday that it was the first time a person had been convicted of conspiracy to commit female genital mutilation, and the third time it had reached a verdict convicting a person of female genital mutilation in England and Wales.

Female genital mutilation was criminalized in 2003 in England and Wales and is defined as a form of violence in which the female reproductive organs are injured or altered without medical reason.

The World Health Organization says that cutting has no health benefits and can lead to excessive bleeding, shock, psychological problems and even death.

Imad Kaki, from Swansea in Wales, organized the girl’s trip to Iraq, where he performed a circumcision operation on her and forced her to marry, but a witness intervened and sent the girl back to Great Britain and contacted the police.

“The law is clear: there is no place for this unacceptable practice in society,” Janine McKinney, chief prosecutor at the East Midlands Crown Prosecution Service, said in a statement.

“Where there is evidence that people are conspiring to commit these crimes, they will be prosecuted whether they are successful or not,” she added.

Prosecutors presented the jury with evidence proving that Kaki booked and paid for the girl’s trip to Iraq while he lived in Nottingham, England, and also showed messages on his phone showing him defending his plans for the victim, calling them “normal”.