Zimbabwe – A woman has died in northern Zimbabwe after her genitals were cut in the hope she would conceive, it was reported on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The 33-year-old woman from Binga had agreed to the procedure, the official Chronicle newspaper reported.<\/p>\n
The paper said the victim’s husband’s grandmother performed the procedure at home with a razor blade. The grandmother, Matha Muzamba, 71, has since been arrested.<\/p>\n
The deceased woman, Selina Mugande, sought medical help following excessive bleeding from the cut, which was done on August 31. She died three days after being discharged from a medical facility, apparently due to loss of blood.<\/p>\n
Police spokesperson Siphiwe Makonese told the paper: “Following the recent incident which involved genital mutilation, we are concerned about the public’s continued use of traditional means which aren’t medically safe to treat their ailments.”<\/p>\n
The Chronicle said villagers in the district “often circumcise women by cutting off parts of their external genitalia to deal with [infertility and other problems]”.<\/p>\n
Female genital mutilation, usually carried out for non-medical reasons, is little talked about in Zimbabwe ,but reportedly goes on in some communities.<\/p>\n
One controversial practice is the elongation of the labia.<\/p>\n
Well-known women’s rights activist Betty Makoni has campaigned against female genital mutilation – and particularly labia elongation – in Zimbabwean communities.<\/p>\n
Source – News24<\/a><\/p>\n