(DETROIT NEWS) — The grand jury investigation into female genital mutilation has spread to at least three more states as federal agents have identified new targets in the case, according to federal court records.
The targets live in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, according to federal court records and interviews with people close to an investigation that, until now, was focused on conduct involving girls from Michigan and Minnesota.
The developments are the latest in a case alleging six people participated in a conspiracy to cut prepubescent girls as part of a religious procedure practiced by a small sect of Shia Muslims from India, the Dawoodi Bohra. A central figure in the case is Dr. Jumana Nagarwala of Northville, who is accused of mutilating girls’ genitalia at the Burhani Medical Clinic in Livonia.
Nagarwala, 44, will fight to be released on bond during an 11 a.m. hearing Wednesday in front of U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman. She is the only person charged in the case being held without bond; clinic owner Dr. Fakhruddin Attar and his wife, Dr. Farida Attar, were released last month.
Federal officials have identified new targets in Los Angeles, Chicago and Minnesota, Nagarwala’s lawyer Shannon Smith wrote in a court filing Tuesday. She believes more people will be charged in federal court.
The Detroit News has learned federal agents are investigating at least one other person in New York.
