Jumana Nagarwala the Indian-origin doctor, who was chaarged with performing genital mutilation on two minor girls, has denied all the allegations against her, she said that she merely performed a religious ritual for families of an Islamic sect.

The 44-year-old doctor was arrested on Wednesday, last week and was charged with performing female genital mutation on two minor girls aged 6 and 8 at an unnamed medical clinic in Livonia, Michigan. She was also charged with transportation of minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and making false statements to a federal officer.

Her lawyer Shannon Smith said that Dr. Nagarwala performed the procedure as a part of a religious practice that is tied to an Islamic group Dawoodi Bohra that the doctor belongs to.

Dr. Nagarwala disclosed all of this at a detention hearing, where she was locked up till the outcome of her case, as the judge concluded that she was a danger to the community and a flight risk.

The Female Genital Mutilation is common in Africa, Middle East, Eastern Europe and South America. According to the United Nations Population Fund, the genital mutilation is practiced by some Islamic groups, some Christians, Ethiopian Jews and followers of certain traditional African religious. The United Nations views the practice in cultural perspective, rather than a religious one.

The Female Genital Mutilation has been banned in the United States since 1996. But the law was amended in 2013 to outlaw what is sometimes referred to as “vacation cutting,” or transporting a girl overseas to carry out the procedure.

AMandeep