Indian-origin doctor arrested over circumcision of baby in UK
Sunday, 25/06/2017
http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=177906&boxid=58727&uid=&dat=2017-06-25
London: An Indian-origin doctor from the East Midlands region of England has been arrested for allegedly circumcising a baby boy without the mother’s consent. Dr Balvinder Mehat is accused of carrying out a non- therapeutic circumcision or a procedure for religious rather than medical reasons.
Nottinghamshire Police had initially turned down the case for insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges. However, earlier this week, the force agreed to re-investigate the case and made two further arrests besides 61-year-old Mehat on Wednesday.
“A 61-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm with intent. A 44-year-old man and a 47-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm. They have all been released pending further investigation. Our enquiries are ongoing,” Nottinghamshire Police said.
“Where a victim or member of the public feel a decision made by us to discontinue an investigation should be reviewed, we will always welcome an appeal,” it added. It is unclear whether the General practitioner, who is based at Bakersfield Medical Centre in the city of Nottingham, had been told that the boy’s parents had consented.
The couple is separated and the procedure is believed to have taken place when the boy was with his father’s family. The police inquiry was reopened this week after protests by campaign group Men Do Complain, which fights against circumcision, and Saimo Chahal, a human rights lawyer.
Highlights
The three-month old baby was of Muslim origin.
The mother did not give her consent for circumcision procedure.
The boy now aged four, suffers from a number of recurrent problems.
