US: India-origin doctor, wife accused in genital mutilation case seek jail release

Detroit: A Detroit-area doctor and his wife accused in a female genital mutilation case are returning to court to find out if they can be released from jail.

Prosecutors are expected to ask a judge Wednesday to keep Dr. Fakhruddin Attar and his wife, Farida, locked up while their case winds through federal court.

They're accused of conspiring with another doctor who is charged with performing genital mutilation on 7-year-old Minnesota girls at a clinic. The Livonia clinic is owed by Dr. Attar.

The government says he allowed Dr. Jumana Nagarwala to see young girls there after hours.

Genital mutilation, also known as cutting, has been condemned by the United Nations and is outlawed in the US. Nagarwala and the Attars belong to a Muslim sect known as Dawoodi Bohra.