Two more defendants appeared in court as a part of a federal prosecution alleging female genital cutting.
Dr. Fakhruddin Attar and his wife Farida Attar are being charged with conspiracy to perform female genital mutilation on young girls and aiding and abetting in this activity.
Female genital mutilation is illegal in the U.S. for minors unless there is a medical need.
Dr. Attar owns the clinic in metro Detroit where Doctor Jumana Nagarwala is accused of performing these procedures on two 7-year-old girls from Minnesota.
Attar and his wife are due in court on Wednesday for a detention hearing.
“Dr. Attar isn’t aware that any crimes were ever committed at his clinic, and he’s been an upstanding member of the medical community for years," said Mary Chartier, Dr. Attar’s attorney. "He has no criminal history, and he looks forward to fighting this case out in court,” she said.
Earlier this week, Nagarwala’s attorney said she was performing a religious ritual on the two girls, and that they weren’t cut during it.
Chartier didn’t say whether her client practices the same religion as Nagarwala, but she did call him “very religious.”
Dr. Attar and his wife are due in court on Wednesday, April 26 for a detention hearing.
