CAIRO: Thirteen-year-old, Karima Rahim Massoud became the second victim of an illegal female genital mutilation (FGM) surgery, where an overdose of anesthesia killed her at a Delta village in Gharbiya, the press reported. "When we arrived at the clinic Karima was in very good health, Karima's father reportedly told Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper. "He told us to buy some medicine from a nearby pharmacy, and when we returned we were surprised to find that he had actually finished the operation. He then noticed his daughter was unconscious and that the doctor was trying to save her with a respirator. "When that didn't work he asked us to get more medicine but when we came the second time we were told that Karima was dead, he said. In response, the Ministry of Health shut down the doctor's private clinic, revoked his license and turned him over to the prosecutor's office. The ministry also issued a warning against individuals, TV channels, internet sites or organizations that encourage Egyptian families to circumcise their daughters by evoking false religious, moral or social beliefs. Since Karima's tragic death, the national council for motherhood and childhood created a hot line (16000) for anyone who wishes to call and ask about circumcision in general in an attempt to give girls "a full and healthy life instead of the disturbed one they would have led after undergoing FGM. After the death of 12-year-old Bodour Ahmed Shaker in June, Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa issued a fatwa clearly stating that FGM was forbidden in Islam. Sheikh Mahmoud Ashour, former deputy of Al Azhar and member of the Islamic Research Center told Daily News Egypt in a previous interview that circumcision is a "habit that has no religious base. Father Paula Narooz, the patron of the Sameen church of Sharm El-Sheikh, agrees with Ashour, explaining that female circumcision is forbidden in Christianity as well. "There's not a single verse in the Bible advocating female circumcision, Father Narooz told Daily News Egypt in a previous interview. "God, in Genesis 17:10 of the Old Testament tells Abraham that 'Every man child among you shall be circumcised.' It never mentions the word 'woman'. While some Christians in Upper Egypt still believe in circumcision, Father Narooz says that this is due to "lack of Christian cultural knowledge that leads these families to follow the inherited norms of their society. According to a demographic and health survey carried out by USAID in 2000, 98 percent of Egyptian girls are subjected to circumcision. While 75 percent of adult women in the survey said they supported genital mutilation operations, the number was down from 82 percent, in an earlier survey carried out in 1995.
