No One Found Guilty In Egypt's First Trial Over Female Circumcision

The first doctor in Egypt to be tried for committing female genital mutilation (FGM) was found not guilty on Thursday, in a landmark verdict that human rights groups said would only encourage those illegally carrying out the procedure.

Doctor Raslan Fadl was charged with carrying out FGM on 13-year-old Soheir al-Batea, who died on June 6, 2013 after undergoing a procedure in the doctor's clinic. Al Batea's family initially filed a police report saying she died as a result of FGM, and told reporters who visited their home that they had taken their daughter to the well-known village doctor. Several months after her death, however, they appeared to reconcile with the doctor, and the lawsuit that was filed against both Dr. Fadl and al-Batea's father was brought by a collection of Egyptian rights groups.

The international human rights group, Equality Now, said forensic reports showed the little girl had suffered an allergic reaction to the penicillin used by the doctor. Reda el-Danbouki, a lawyer involved in bringing the case to trial said the doctor had paid the family 60,000 pounds, or about $8,500, for reconciliation.

The Egyptian court did not explain its verdict, or give any context for why it had ruled that Dr. Fadl and the girl's father, Mohamed al-Batea, were not guilty.

FGM – which involves cutting off parts of the female genitalia and, in some cultures, the sewing together of the labia – is practiced in 29 countries, most of them in East and West Africa. It is practiced by both Muslims and Christians, who believe that prevents a girl's sexual appetite from growing out of control, and makes it easier for her to get married.

Equality Now estimates that 91% of Egypt's female population has undergone FGM, though exact figures are unavailable. Egypt formally banned all forms of FGM in 2007, though it continues to be practiced in makeshift clinics across the country.

Philippe Duamelle, the UNICEF representative in Egypt, told AP that the case was an opportunity for the government to show "this crime is now taken with all the seriousness it requires."