Circumcision practitioner charged with assaulting children
A man has been charged with assaulting children while performing circumcisions in several English counties.
Mohammad Siddiqui, 54, from Hockley, Birmingham, faces 34 charges, including causing actual bodily harm and unnecessary suffering or injury. Hampshire police said the alleged assaults did not relate to the practice of circumcision itself. Mr Siddiqui has been bailed to appear before Westminster magistrates on 6 November. He is also accused of administering medicine when not an appropriate practitioner. The charges involve boys in seven police force areas including Dorset, Hampshire, London, Thames Valley, West Mercia, West Midlands and Wiltshire. Hampshire Constabulary said the offences were allegedly committed in private residences between 2015 and 2018. In a statement, the force said: "This investigation is related to an individual's possible criminal actions whilst undertaking circumcision procedures and is not concerned with the practice of circumcision itself."