August 18, 2004, 07:30
Police in Burkina Faso have arrested 14 people for carrying out female genital mutilation on girls aged between 2 and 10 years, a campaign group in the West African country said today.
One of the 16 victims would have bled to death without immediate medical help because her arteries were severed during the procedure, medics said. Adama Barry, who has four previous convictions for practising female circumcision, was arrested with 13 other people after an anonymous tip-off to the National Committee for the Fight against Excision (CNLPE).
"This time there will be no leniency. She and her accomplices should get the maximum sanction so that we're sure such acts won't happen again," Hortense Palm, a senior CNLPE official, said. The procedure, which involves cutting the clitoris and other genitalia, is seen in some cultures as a rite of passage from girlhood to womanhood and a way of preventing promiscuity. It is sometimes carried out by a doctor, but often in rural societies by a relative or traditional healer.
"There was a haemorrhage in one case because arteries had been severed," said doctor Michel Akotionga, who examined the girls after they were brought to his clinic in Ouagadougou. "If this little girl had been left at home, she would certainly have died." There was also a risk of infection if one of the girls were found to be HIV positive, he said, because the same blade had been used on all 16 of them.
Amnesty International, the Rights watchdog, estimates that over two thirds of women and girls in Burkina Faso undergo genital mutilation even though it is officially banned, with all but a few of the country's 50 ethnic groups involved in the practice. Those arrested face penalties from a 150 000-900 000 CFA franc ($280-$1 680) fine to three months in prison. Should one of the victims die, the sentence rises to 5-10 years in prison. Only around 14 African states have outlawed female genital mutilation. In some countries, such as Somalia, more than 90% of women are estimated to have been circumcised. - Reuters
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