‘Dozens of UK girls in Somalia over genital mutilation’

Reports say dozens of girls from the United Kingdom have been taken to Somalia for female genital mutilation (FGM).

Now the UK police are said to be investigating reports that at least 50 girls were taken from Britain to Somalia for such practice.

The Liberal Democrat peer, Jennifer Louise Tonge contacted the Scotland Yard after spotting a large group of girls on a flight from London’s Heathrow Airport last Saturday, the state-run BBC reported.

The girls were said to be between 11 and 17-years-old and with their mothers or grandmothers.

This comes as Bedfordshire police secured the UK’s first FGM protection order, preventing two girls from going abroad.

The Metropolitan police said officers from the Specialist Crime and Operations Command were investigating Tonge’s report.

Speaking to the BBC, Tonge said the girls spoke English and were of Somali origin.

The UK police said it is estimated that more than 20,000 girls under the age of 15 in Britain are at risk of FGM each year, although very few cases are reported.

FGM, also termed female circumcision, is illegal in the UK. It refers to any procedure that alters or injures the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.

It is a painful ritual carried out on women and young girls from certain communities from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.