Doctor, wife in genital mutilation case want out of jail

A Detroit-area doctor and his wife are returning to court to see if they'll be released from jail while facing charges in an investigation of female genital mutilation.

Prosecutors are asking 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 outlawed in the U.S. Nagarwala and the Attars belong to a Muslim sect known as Dawoodi Bohra.

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