Egypt FGM trial 'convicts doctor of manslaughter'

An Egyptian doctor has been convicted of the manslaughter of a girl who died after an illegal female genital mutilation procedure, activists say.
Opponents of FGM were dismayed when Raslan Fadl was acquitted in November of charges relating to the death of 13-year-old Suhair al-Bataa.
But after an appeal, a court in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura sentenced him to more than two years in prison.  The campaign group Equality                            Now called the ruling a "monumental victory".

Although FGM was banned in Egypt six years ago, it remains widespread.
'Extreme violence'

Suhair al-Bataa, who lived in small farming community on the outskirts of Mansoura, died in 2013. Prosecutors argued that she was forced to undergo FGM by her father. Fadl denied carrying out the procedure, saying he had only treated her for warts and that her death had been caused by an allergic reaction to penicillin.
Both he and Suhair's father were cleared of any wrongdoing at their initial trial. But prosecutors appealed against the verdict and on Monday it was overturned.
Fadl was sentenced to two years in prison for manslaughter and three months for performing the FGM procedure, according to Equality Now. His clinic was also ordered to close for a year.

Suhair's father was meanwhile given a three-month suspended sentence.

The practice of FGM was banned in Egypt in 2008 but the country still has one of the highest rates of prevalence in the world.