A 10-year-old girl has died in Somalia due to complications from female genital mutilation (FGM).
Mumtaz Qorane was the third child to die in the country this week after undergoing the practice, which is also known as female circumcision.
Dr. Mohamed Hussein Aden tells VOA’s Somali service that the girl underwent the procedure three days ago in the countryside near the town of Goldogob, and contracted tetanus afterward.
He said a medical team sent to bring her to a hospital in the town of Galkayo was told Monday morning that the girl had died.
Aden received an emergency call about the girl’s grave condition on Sunday while talking to VOA Somali about the death of two sisters, Asiya Farah Abdi Warsame and Khadija Farah Abdi Warsame, who bled to death following FGM.
Doctors and activists said the girls died in Bur Salah village about 75 kilometers west of Galkayo, but the mutilation took place about a week ago near Galladi, across the border in the Somali region of Ethiopia.
Galkayo hospital is the main health facility used by nomads who live along the border areas between Somalia and Ethiopia.
Dr. Mohamed Hussein Aden said the two girls who died in Bur Salah were aged 10 and 11, adding, “There is no other way to describe it, it’s brutal.”
Activists are demanding an end to female circumcision, calling it a dangerous ritual with no practical benefits.
The practice involves removing part or all of the clitoris and labia for non-medical reasons. The World Health Organization (WHO) says cutting, often performed on girls 15 and younger, can result in bleeding, infection, problems with urination and complications with childbearing.
