CLOSE Millions of little girls and young women have been subjected to a painful rite of passage that involves cutting their genitals — often without anesthesia — for centuries in parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Detroit Free Press 
 
 A courtroom sketch shows U.S. Magistrate Judge Mona Majzoub, center, and Dr. Jumana Nagarwala, right, recently in Detroit. (Photo: Jerry Lemenu, Special to the Free Press) 
 
 A federal prosecutor dropped a bombshell in court Wednesday, telling a federal judge that the government estimates that as many as 100 girls may have had their genitals cut at the hands of a local doctor and her cohorts. 
 
 Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Woodward disclosed the information while trying to convince a judge to keep a doctor and his wife locked up in the historic case. It involves allegations that two Minnesota girls had their genitals cut at a Livonia clinic in February as part of a religious rite of passage and were told to keep what happened a secret. 
 
 "Due to the secretive nature of this procedure, we are unlikely to ever know how many children were cut by Dr. (Jumana) Nagarwala," Woodward said, referring to the lead defendant in the case, later adding, "The Minnesota victims were not the first victims." 
 
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 4 kids in genital mutilation case to stay with parents - for now 
 
 Against Woodward's wishes, U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman granted bond to two other defendants in the case: Dr. Fakhruddin Attar, 53, of Farmington Hills, who is accused of letting Nagarwala use his clinic to perform genital cutting procedures on minor girls; and his wife, Farida Attar, 50, who is accused of holding the girls' hands during the procedure to keep them from squirming and to calm them. 
 
 The government believes the three defendants, all members of a local Indian-Muslim sect, subjected numerous girls to genital cutting procedures over a 12-year period. To date, the government says it has identified eight victims -- including the two Minnesota girls -- though Woodward said the government estimates there could be as many as 100 victims. She said that's a conservative estimate, and that it's based on Dr. Attar's alleged admission to authorities that he let Nagarwala use his clinic up to six times a year to treat children for genital rashes. 
 
 Attar's lawyer, Mary Chartier, scoffed at the claim. 
 
 "I think the government has overstated so many aspects of this case and this is one more example of overreaching," Chartier said after the hearing, during which she and another lawyer convinced the judge to set the Attars free. 
 
 The defense has argued that the Attars did not engage in any criminal act and that the procedure at issue is a protected religious rite-of-passage that involves no cutting, but rather a scraping of genital membrane. They also argued the Attars are not a danger to the society and have no reason or desire to flee, convincing U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman to release them on bond. 
 
 Friedman, who stressed that he believes the case involves "serious" charges, issued the following conditions in granting bond to the defendants: 
 
 They have to surrender their passports. 
 
 They will be on house arrest, on GPS tethers, and are not allowed to communicate with anyone except family members or their lawyers. 
 
 They will only be allowed to leave the home to visit their lawyers or for doctor's visits -- both of which have to be approved first. 
 
 "I think he is thrilled," Chartier said of her client, Dr. Attar. "He is anxious to fight this case and clear his name." 
 
 The Attars will likely not be released from jail until Thursday, when their lawyers surrender their passports to authorities. At issue for the Attars is their parenting rights. Currently, they are not allowed to live with their minor daughter as the state is trying to terminate their parenting rights. 
 
 Chartier said a hearing is scheduled on the parenting-right issue for next week, and she is hoping that the Attars will be allowed to live with their daughter again. 
 
 The Attars have been jailed for more than a month since getting charged in April in an explosive case that has captured international attention and planted a bull's-eye on a small Muslim sect known as the Dawoodi Bohra. 
 
 The Attars are Bohras, along with the lead defendant in the case, Dr. Nagarwala, 44, of Northville, who is accused of performing the cutting procedures on the two Minnesota girls. 
 
 Nagarwala, meanwhile, remains locked up pending the outcome of her trial. Her attorney, Shannon Smith, was in court Wednesday. She declined comment on allegations that her client subjected up to 100 girls to genital cutting, but noted that she, too, will seek to have her client released on bond. 
 
 If convicted, Nagarwala and Dr. Attar face up to life in prison; Attar's wife faces up to 20 years. The two physicians face the most serious charge in the case, transportation of an individual with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, which carries a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison. 
 
 A trial is set for October 10. 
 
 Contact Tresa Baldas: can be reached at tbaldas@freepress.com 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://on.freep.com/2sEk9iP ||||| FBI surveillance photo shot outside a Livonia clinic where two girls allegedly suffered female genital mutilation. (Photo: U.S. District Court) 
 
 Detroit – As many as 100 girls may have had their genitalia mutilated during a 12-year conspiracy involving three Metro Detroit doctors, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday. 
 
 That’s a conservative figure, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Woodward said during a failed bid to keep two doctors jailed pending trial. 
 
 There is evidence eight girls were mutilated, the prosecutor said, but so far the nation’s first female genital mutilation case involves only two 7-year-old girls from Minnesota. 
 
 The government’s allegation is the latest development in a high-profile criminal case that is raising awareness about a procedure practiced by some members of the Dawoodi Bohra, a small sect of Shia Muslims. 
 
 Nagarwala (Photo: file photo) 
 
 Dr. Jumana Nagarwala of Northville is accused of mutilating the genitalia of two girls Feb. 3 at a Livonia clinic owned by Dr. Fakhruddin Attar. 
 
 The Farmington Hills man has been indicted along with his wife, Dr. Farida Attar, who is accused of helping arrange the procedure and being in the examination room while it was performed. 
 
 Fakhruddin Attar’s lawyer criticized the government for alleging 100 girls have been victimized. 
 
 “I think the government has overstated so many aspects of this case and this is another example,” attorney Mary Chartier told reporters. 
 
 The government made the estimate based on Fakhruddin Attar allegedly telling investigators that Nagarwala treated girls at his clinic for “problems with their genitals” five or six times a year. 
 
 Prosecutors allege the mutilation conspiracy started 12 years ago. 
 
 Attar (Photo: file photo) 
 
 Chartier spoke after U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman freed the Attars pending an Oct. 10 trial. 
 
 The couple were placed on house arrest, and the judge barred them from using computers and accessing the Internet. They also cannot have any contact with alleged victims or witnesses, Friedman said. 
 
 For now, the couple cannot live with their 9-year-old daughter because state officials are trying to terminate their parental rights. 
 
 The judge’s decision comes less than two months after the couple were arrested and accused of accused of committing female genital mutilation, trying to cover up the crime and conspiring with Nagarwala to cut girls as part of a procedure practiced by their religious and cultural community, the Dawoodi Bohra. 
 
 Locally, most members of the sect belong to the Anjuman-e-Najmi mosque in Farmington Hills. 
 
 Nagarwala remains jailed pending trial. 
 
 Federal prosecutors allege the two 7-year-old girls who were brought to Metro Detroit on Feb. 3 suffered illegal genital mutilation at Fakhruddin Attar’s clinic in Livonia. 
 
 FBI surveillance photo shot outside a Livonia clinic where two girls allegedly suffered female genital mutilation. (Photo: U.S. District Court) 
 
 One girl told the FBI that Nagarwala “pinched” her on the “place (where) she goes pee,’ ” and a subsequent medical examinations showed the girl’s genitals did not appear normal and a section had been altered or removed, according to a court filing. A doctor also observed scar tissue and small healing lacerations. 
 
 The second girl identified Nagarwala as the doctor she visited in Detroit and a subsequent medical exam showed the girl’s genitalia had a small incision and a small tear, according to a court filing. 
 
 Defense lawyers say the procedure performed on the girls was not female genital mutilation and that the government is overreaching. 
 
 Nagarwala’s lawyer has said the doctor merely removed mucous membrane from the girls’ genitalia, placed the material on gauze pads and gave it to their families for burial. 
 
 The girls were brought to the clinic by mothers who wanted them to undergo a religious rite of passage, defense lawyers said. 
 
 The procedures were benign and legal, defense lawyers have said. 
 
 Prosecutors disagree. 
 
 “Their pants and underwear were removed ... and Dr. Nagarwala approached with a sharp tool to cut their genitals,” Woodward said Wednesday. 
 
 Last month, a federal magistrate judge ordered the Attars held without bond, calling them a danger to the community and flight risks because they have ties in India. 
 
 In a bid to overturn the magistrate’s decision, the couple’s lawyers said they are not flight risks and have strong ties to Metro Detroit. 
 
 Defense lawyers also have attacked the government’s evidence. 
 
 Chartier said FBI surveillance footage outside Fakhruddin Attar’s clinic is such poor quality that identifying the doctor – or anyone – is impossible. 
 
 “That could be me, Dr. Attar, or the pope himself,” Chartier said. 
 
 The footage shows the Attars, Nagarwala and the victims at the clinic Feb. 3, the government claims. 
 
 The camera appears to have been attached to a utility pole across the street from Fakhruddin Attar’s clinic in Livonia. 
 
 The lawyer countered the government’s claim that Fakhruddin Attar was at the clinic by producing receipts showing he was at a bookstore miles away. 
 
 “He was at a Barnes & Noble bookstore during the time he was supposedly at the clinic, and Dr. Attar was with his daughter,” Chartier wrote in a court filing. 
 
 Fakhruddin Attar, 52, and Nagarwala, 44, face up to life in prison if convicted of conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. 
 
 Farida Attar, 50, faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of conspiring to obstruct the investigation. 
 
 rsnell@detroitnews.com 
 
 (313) 222-2486 
 
 Twitter: @robertsnellnews 
 
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– In April, a Michigan doctor was charged with performing genital mutilation on two young Minnesota girls. On Wednesday, feds dropped what the Detroit Free Press calls a "bombshell" in the case: They estimate not two but up to 100 girls had their genitals cut by Dr. Jumana Nagarwala. "The Minnesota victims were not the first victims," Assistant US Attorney Sara Woodward told a judge as part of what is the first case of its kind to be prosecuted in federal court. The government says it has evidence of eight victims (though the Detroit News notes the case at hand still just involves the two). The feds arrived at their estimate based on defendant Dr. Fakhruddin Attar's alleged statement that he gave Nagarwala use of his Livonia clinic as many as six times a year over a dozen years. The allegation came as Woodward argued Attar and his wife, who is accused of helping to calm and restrain the girls during the procedure, should not be released on bail in advance of the October trial. A judge disagreed; they'll be on house arrest going forward, and barred from using the Internet. The prosecution argues the three, members of an Indian-Muslim sect called the Dawoodi Bohra, illegally cut the girls' genitals as part of a religious rite. The defense counters they simply underwent what the News terms a "benign" procedure that involved scraping the mucous membrane of the girls' genitalia; lawyers say what was removed was then deposited on gauze pads and returned to their mothers for burial. (The first person in America to be convicted of female genital mutilation was kicked out of the country in March.)