A couple accused of genital mutilation of their young daughter suggested to gardai that the girl had sustained her injury by “falling on a toy.”

The girl was just under two years old when her parents brought her to hospital for immediate assistance as she was bleeding from her genitals, part of which had been removed, a court heard.

The father (37) and mother (27) have gone on trial accused of mutilation of the girl at their home in a south Dublin suburb on Sept. 16, 2016.

They are also charged with allowing their daughter to be ill-treated or neglected, causing unnecessary suffering or injury.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard it was not alleged they performed the acutal act of mutilation but that they “aided, abetted, counselled or procured” the commission of the offence.

They deny both charges.

Today, Shane Costello SC told the jury in his opening speech the accused’s daughter was just under two years old at the time.

On September 16, 2016, the parents both presented at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Crumlin with their daughter. They asked for immediate assistance because she was bleeding and they were concerned for her health, Mr Costello said.

Having been triaged and brought into the Emergency Room, the girl was seen by a paediatric surgeon, who assessed and examined her before performing a medical procedure to stop the bleeding.

“He took the view that the injury she sustained was not accidental,” Mr Costello said.

The girl’s clitoral head had been excised, or removed from her body and she was bleeding from that area. After the surgeon had spoken to the parents and his colleagues, a referral was made to the gardai.

The accused were interviewed and the jury would hear the content of these interviews, Mr Costello said.

They would also see evidence of a toy that was seized by the gardai from the accused’s home, “where the accused had suggested that the injury (their daughter) sustained was as a result of falling on this toy.”

The jury would see this toy as part of the State’s case, Mr Costello continued.

The prosecution could not assert that the accused were the primary participants in the commission of the alleged offence, he said.

It was not being stated that the couple actually performed the physical act of mutilation, but that they aided, abetted, counselled or procured the commission of the offence, and they must have been present when it happened. If the jury was satisfied that the accused had this participation, they could find them guilty “as if they themselves had committed the act,” he said.

Mr Costello said Female Genital Mutilation was a specific act in Irish legislation, and outlined the definition as the excision, infibulation or other mutilation of the whole or any part of the female genitalia, as specified.

It was not a defence for an accused person to show they believed that the act was consented to by the girl, parents or guardian or that it was provided for by custom or ritual reasons.

Mr Costello told the jurors they would be hearing from expert witnesses in the case but this did not supplant the jury’s role as deciders of fact.

He said the accused were presumed innocent and the burden of proof was on the prosecution, to prove their guilt. The standard of proof was beyond reasonable doubt, he said.

Colman Fitzgerald SC, for the girl’s father, then read out formal admissions being made by both accused, reducing the number of required prosecution witnesses.

He said it was accepted the accused were lawfully arrested and detained and their flat searched. It was also accepted they had consented to blood samples being taken from their daughter, and her medical records being released by the hospital.

Patrick Gageby SC, for the girl’s mother, concurred with the admissions.

Judge Sheahan also reminded the jury the accused were presumed innocent and remained so until the end of the trial.

The couple, originally from an east African country, are being assisted by interpreters in court.

The trial continues before Judge Elma Sheahan and a jury of eight men and four women.

Source: Read Full Article