Teen Girl Dies During Illegal Genital Mutilation Surgery
An investigation is underway after a 17-year-old girl died from female genital mutilation surgery (FGM) at a private hospital in Suez, Egypt.
Mayar Mohamed Mousa, died from a "suspected stroke" while under anesthesia during the operation, according to an Egyptian Health Ministry official. Mousa went in for the same surgery directly after her twin sister underwent the same procedure.
These operations are considered illegal in Egypt, and the doctors who performed the surgery on Mayar and her twin sister are now facing prosecutors.
"Performers of such criminal operations must face strict measures," Egypt's National Council for Women said about the incident.
The operation has been illegal since 2008, however in Egypt 90 percent of women have undergone the surgery.
Vivian Fouad, head of the Egyptian health ministry program that fights against these operations, referred to the "surgery" as a "crime committed by criminals known as doctors."
The hospital was shut down while prosecutors questioned the hospital manager and medical staff that were involved in the operation.
According NBC, the hospital has had several warnings over its poor health record and its "lack of an intensive care unit."
An autopsy of the girl was conducted to determine what exactly happened during the fatal surgery.
The World Health Organization refers to FGM as "the partial or total removal of external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons."
According to a nationalpost.com article, such procedures are performed on girls before puberty between the ages of 9 and 13. This surgery provides no health benefits.
CBN News Health Reporter Lorie Johnson went in depth on these operations. Watch her story on FGM and find out why this dangerous procedure is still performed today in parts of the world.
