WOMAN IN HARROW JAILED FOR HELPING TAKE GIRL FOR FGM LOSES APPEAL
A woman named Amina Noor, residing in Harrow, north-west London, has been sentenced to seven years in prison after she took a three-year-old girl to Kenya to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM).She became the second person in the UK to be convicted under the FGM Act 2003 for such an offense and the first to be convicted of assisting in performing FGM abroad 18 years earlier.
Court records reveal that Noor traveled to Kenya in 2006 and took the young girl to a private home for the procedure.
The offense was discovered more than ten years later when the girl, now aged 16, confided in her teacher about what had happened.
During the trial, Noor stated she was threatened with curses and disownment by her community if she did not take part.
She described the act as a 'Sunnah,' suggesting it was a cultural tradition, and explained that it had been a longstanding practice for cultural reasons.
Her legal representatives argued that the judge did not properly consider the cultural context of Noor’s actions when she took the child to the clinic, but the appeal was dismissed.
Lord Justice William Davis noted that the girl, just three years old and far from her home, was subjected to mutilation that resulted in serious bodily harm with intent.
The court underlined that FGM is illegal under UK law no matter the cultural reasons, and the appeal was rejected, confirming the original sentence.
