By Politico staff writer
Magistrate Momoh Lanasana in Bonthe District has granted bail to a woman accused of manslaughter after the death of a 21-year-old she allegedly subjected to Female Genital cutting.
The Magistrate released the Sowei known as Sowo Sandy who is said to be in her 60s after the prosecution, for the second time, failed to bring forth their witnesses.
21-year-old Maseray Sei, a mother of two, died in December 2021 a day after undergoing the procedure at the hands of the Sowei. An autopsy report says she died after bleeding profusely from the procedure.
Sandy is charged with manslaughter and not directly for carrying out FGM because the practice itself is not outlawed outright, even though the country’s child rights law forbids children from being subjected to “harmful treatment”.
The charge sheet reads that Sowoh committed the offense of “manslaughter for unlawfully killing Maseray Sie in Nyandehun village, Imperri chiefdom in Bonthe” in December 2021.
The landmark case first came up in court late last Friday in Moriba Town and the magistrate refused the accused bail and sent her on remand until the adjourned date of 20 July.
Her release on the 20th of July 2022 sparked off celebrations by her colleagues who performed some traditional rites outside the court.
Campaigners have hailed the move as “a watershed moment” in the fight against FGM calling it “a win for the women of Sierra Leone”. There has been no reaction from them yet to Wednesday’s development.
Sei died shortly after the passing of a 10-year-old girl, Marie Kamara, and 19-year-old Fatmata Turay who succumbed in 2016 after undergoing FGM.
Campaigners say many die as a result of FGM but the traditionalists and relatives of the deceased cover them up.
A 2019 demographic health survey in the country estimates that 83% of women and girls aged 15 to 49 years have undergone FGM.
For the first time in half a century, a Sowei (woman engaged in the practice of female genital mutilation) is in court in Sierra Leone after the death of an initiate.
The matter was adjourned to Wednesday 27th July 2022.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (22/07/22)
