Two Arrested at Heathrow over Suspected Female Genital Mutilation

The following story was originally carried in The Guardian paper.

A man and woman were arrested in connection with the suspected genital mutilation of a girl in London, England. The man and woman were taken into custody after a south London school raised concerns that one of its students had been taken abroad.

A 49-year-old woman was arrested at London’s Heathrow Airport after she arrived on a flight from Nairobi, Kenya, at 5:00am last Wednesday. She was accompanied by an eight-year-old girl who was then placed in protective care, according to Scotland Yard.

A spokesman for the London Metropolitan Police refused to confirm whether the child travelling with the woman was the suspected victim of FGM perpetrated overseas.

A 45-year-old man, who was not on the flight, was also arrested at the airport. The suspects were taken into custody at a south London Police Station on suspicion of helping a foreign national to commit FGM overseas.

The pair was arrested after an application for a FGM prevention order from the Camberwell child abuse investigation team.

Police were alerted after a south London school raised concern that one of its students had failed to attend school and was believed to have been taken to Somalia.  For more on this story, see the link below.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/mar/09/two-arrested-heathrow-suspected-female-genital-mutilation