And Egyptian doctor has been convicted of carrying out female genital mutilation (FGM) surgery in a landmark trial.

Suhair al-Bataa, 12, died as a result of complications due to the FGM surgery performed Dr Raslan Fadl in June 2013.

Fadl, a doctor and Islamic preacher in the village of Aga, northern Egypt, and the girl’s father were acquitted on charges of manslaughter over her death at the original trial in November 2013.

However, in a retrial, both Fadl and Suhair’s father were found guilty, in what activist group Equality Now has called a “monumental victory” for campaigners pushing to end the practice.

Fadl was sentenced to three years in prison for manslaughter and a further three months for mutilating Suhair al-Bataa, while her father was given a suspended sentence.

FGM, also known as female genital cutting and female circumcision, is the ritual removal of some or all of the external female genitalia, which the NHS describes as “a form of violence against women and girls” and “an abuse of human rights”.

Egypt’s Ministry of Health banned all forms of the practice in 2007, declaring that it is “prohibited for any doctors, nurses, or any other person to carry out any cut of, flattening or modification of any natural part of the female reproductive system”.

Islamic authorities in the Egypt have also stressed that Islam opposes female genital mutilation, with the Grand Mufti, Ali Gomaa, describing the practice as “prohibited, prohibited, prohibited”.