Doctor accused of FGM tells court he was stemming bleeding Dhanuson Dharmasena is accused of restoring previous female genital mutilation through the way he sutured incisions after a woman had given birth
A doctor accused of carrying out female genital mutilation on a young mother told a jury he performed a surgical procedure after her childbirth in order to stem bleeding and was acting in her best interests.
Giving evidence in his own defence, Dr Dhanuson Dharmasena, 32, told Southwark crown court that at no time was he told by anyone in the immediate aftermath of the delivery that what he had done was illegal.
The doctor is the first person to be prosecuted in England and Wales with carrying out FGM since it was outlawed in 1985.