Sierra Leone: Forced FGM suspects freed amid protest

By Alpha Kamara

DAKAR, Senegal

Police freed suspects on charges involving forced female genital mutilation (FGM) Wednesday when dozens of members of a pro-FGM group protested the detention.

Members of the FGM Council in Sierra Leone’s Eastern Kenema District protested against what they called “interference” in their secret society.

The protest came after a 28-year-old woman was allegedly forced into FGM and locked inside a house for four days before being released by the police and being admitted to hospital.

“The woman is in serious pain and has been admitted at the hospital. She can’t walk and she looks traumatized,” said a statement by the police Family Support Unit, which investigates cases of violence against women and girls.

The statement added that they had released the suspects due to pressure from the FGM group protest.

A source from the unit, speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking with the media, told Anadolu Agency that the police are investigating allegations of kidnapping, forceful FGM, and torture.

Before the release, Elsie Kondulormo, vice president of the pro-FGM group, denied having forced the woman, saying she went willingly but later changed her mind due to “outside interference.”

“Men are practicing their secret societies and no one cares. Why are they targeting our society?” she added.

Amid news of the alleged assault, a Sierra Leone anti-FGM coalition, Not in My Name, reiterated their call for FGM to be banned in the country.

Alimatu Dimonekene, a member of the group, told Anadolu that the practice is always harmful and unacceptable, whether it is done on minors or adults.

It has no place in the 21st century, she added.