Hi Egypt acquits doctor in female genital mutilation.

Hi Egypt acquits doctor in female genital mutilation.

This undated photo provided by the Women’s Center for Guidance and Legal Awareness, shows a portrait of Sohair el-Batea, who died last year after undergoing a female genital mutilation operation by Dr. Raslan Fadl, in Egypt. On Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014 a court is expected to issue a verdict in Egypt’s first-ever prosecution of a doctor accused of committing FGM. Thirteen-year-old Sohair died during the operation last year. Rights advocates say the outcome of this case could set a key precedent for deterring doctors and families in the future. (AP Photo/Women’s Center for Guidance and Legal Awareness).

CAIRO (AP) — A lawyer says an Egyptian court has acquitted a doctor charged with committing female genital mutilation that led to a 13-year-old girl's death.

Lawyer Atef Aboul Einein says the court in Dakahliya ruled Thursday that the doctor, Raslan Fadl, and the father of Soheir el-Batea were not guilty.

Aboul Einein, who has followed the case and obtained a copy of the ruling, says it was a "surprise" and warned it could open doors for "any doctor" to perform the banned procedure.

More than 90 percent of Egyptian women are estimated to have undergone the procedure, which involves the cutting off of all or part of the clitoris and the labia. In a conservative society, it is believed to control a young woman's sexual appetite.

Egypt criminalized the practice in 2008.

In this Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2014 photo, women sit outside the clinic of Dr. Raslan Fadl, the doctor who performed the procedure of female genital mutilation on 13-year-old Sohair el-Batea that resulted in her death a year ago, in Aga town, Dakahliya,120 kilometers (75 miles) northeast of Cairo, Egypt. Fadl is the first doctor in Egypt to be put on trial for committing female genital mutilation, after Sohair's death. But in this small Delta Village, not only is he still working as a doctor, but he has plenty of patients. Fadl’s continued work demonstrates the challenges to curbing FGM in Egypt, which has one of the highest rates of the practice in the world, at more than 90 percent. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty).