OSLO — Police in Norway said Friday they have filed preliminary charges against a husband and wife for the alleged genital mutilation of five of their daughters.
It was the first such case opened under Norwegian laws against female circumcision.
The couple were both originally from Gambia, but are now Norwegian citizens, said a statement from Human Rights Services, an activist group that alerted police to the case. The daughters, ranging in age from 5 to 14 years, were all born in Norway.
“This is the first time we have raised such a charge by the Oslo police, and as far as I know it is the first ever in Norway,” Hanna Kristin Rhode, of the Oslo police, told the state radio network NRK.
The 41-year-old father has two other wives in Gambia, and four of the daughters are now living with those women, police said.
“The mother and father are charged under the law against genital mutilation because they contributed to five of their six daughters being mutilated,” Ms. Rhode said. None of the names were released.
Norway banned female circumcision with a 1996 law that sets a prison term of three years for anyone contributing to genital mutilation, and up to eight years if the mutilation results in death or severe health damage. In 2004, an amendment required school and health personnel to alert authorities to possible cases or face fines or up to one year in prison.
Female genital mutilation involves the removal of a girl's clitoris or other genital parts, usually shortly after birth or at a young age, which can cause lasting pain and complications in childbirth. While it is practiced in many parts of the world, it is most common in Africa.
Police were seeking a court order to hold the father during the investigation and pending a possible formal indictment. Police were not seeking to hold the mother because she is seven months pregnant. The couple also has a 3-year-old daughter, who had not been mutilated and is now in public child care.
Ms. Rhode said police want the four daughters in Gambia to return to Norway, because they are citizens and have been in daycare and school in the Nordic country.
