Thirteen-year-old Hoda el-Shami escaped from Mahallah General Hospital yesterday after she was admitted with severe bleeding resulting from circumcision carried out by a midwife. Ministry of Health Under-Secretary Dr. Sherif Hammouda said the hospital reported to the police to arrest the girl's father and the midwife. On the other hand, Moushira Khattab, Secretary General of the National Council for Motherhood and Childhood, said the Child Act still needs amendments to write a child in his father's name in the birth certificate, as it now only puts it in his mother's name. Khattab also called on the people to report female genital mutilation in order to punish those who commit that crime against our daughters.
