A Kenyan woman was on Monday, November 14, granted unconditional bail by a United Kingdom (UK) court ahead of a plea and trial preparation hearing in a case in which she is accused of aiding the genital mutilation of a 3-year-old girl.
Amina Noor, a 38-year-old Kenyan woman with UK citizenship, allegedly took the three-year-old girl to Kenya where she underwent the cruel procedure.
According to the charge sheet presented to the court, Noor is charged with aiding and abetting, counselling or procuring a non-UK citizen to mutilate the genitals of a UK female citizen.
The incident is said to have taken place between January 13, 2006 and April 2, 2007.
The British law states that helping a non-UK national to perform a mutilation procedure is illegal even when it takes place outside of the UK.
According to the prosecutor Jason Seetal, Noor took the victim to Kenya, where the procedure was performed.
"It was a type 1 female genital mutilation," Seetal told the Westminster Magistrates' Court where the case is being heard.
However, Noor admitted that she took the child to Kenya but pleaded not guilty to the charges leveled against her.
"She did not know exactly what was happening to her or what had been arranged," her lawyer Stuart Harris, told the Court.
The court also heard that Noor is originally from Kenya but acquired UK citizenship in 2005.
The plea and trial preparation hearing is expected to commence on December 12, in Southwark Crown Court.
In 2011, Kenya passed legislation barring female genital mutilation. The legislation imposed harsh penalties on those involved in FGM including up to three years' imprisonment.
