Mumbai Mirror

In a big boost for those opposing female genital mutilation (FGM) across the world, the highest court of appeals in Australia on Wednesday held that female genital mutilation is illegal in its “various forms,” and set aside the acquittal of three people from the Dawoodi Bohra community in Australia.

"The biggest take away from this judgment is that the ritual of Khatna or Khafz practised in the Dawoodi Bohra Community, which involves the cutting of the clitoris or clitoral hood is covered under the definition of female genital mutilation under Australian laws. This is a shot in the arm for our fight in India for a law against this practice."

Masooma Ranalvi, founder of NGO WeSpeakOut told Mirror.

This judgment puts to rest the ambiguity around the word ‘mutilation’ and has found that the term ‘otherwise mutilates’ in the law includes the cutting of the clitoral hood, and that the clitoral hood is a part of the ‘clitoris’.

In 2015, the mother of two young girls, a former nurse Kubra Magennis, who allegedly performed the act and the Dawoodi Bohra Community leader Shabbir Vaziri were found guilty of breaching the ban on FGM in New South Wales, Australia.  Vaziri was specifically found guilty of facilitating the cover-up. All were sentenced to 15 months in jail but, while the women were allowed to spend the sentence out of custody, Vaziri was jailed.

Their main defence in the case was that Magennis had merely performed a ritualistic procedure. The Bohra community is
headquartered in Mumbai. 

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