Doctor Accused of Female Genital Mutilation At Taxpayer Funded Hospital

A doctor has been charged with Female Genital Mutilation at a National Health Service Hospital. Dr Dhanoun Dharmasena is accused of carrying out the mutilation whilst another man, Hasan Mohammed, is alleged to have aided and abetted the crime.

The alleged crime took place at Whittington Hospital, in North London. The hospital is owned and operated by the National Health Service, meaning Dr Dharmasena would have been in receipt of a taxpayer funded salary at the time of the alleged offenses.

The announcement was made by Alison Saunders, the Director of Public Prosecutions, she said: “The CPS was asked to consider evidence in relation to this allegation of female genital mutilation by the Metropolitan Police Service after it was alleged that following a patient giving birth in November 2012, a doctor at the Whittington Hospital, in London, repaired FGM that had previously been performed on the patient, allegedly carrying out FGM himself.

There are thought to be 60,000 victims of Female Genital Mutilation in Britain, but this is the first prosecution since the practice became illegal in 1985. Saunders said prosecutions in such cases are so rare because victims are unwilling to speak in open court.