London, April 4 (IANS) A woman in Britain has accused an Indian-origin doctor of performing unnecessary surgery on her.
The woman, who is identified only as A, said she was left feeling “violated and butchered” after a routine surgery performed by Sureshkumar Pandya left her with virtually the same effects as female genital mutilation, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service heard Friday, according to the Daily Mail.
Pandya performed the surgery on the woman in 2012 — but last year, after she became pregnant, a midwife who examined her said she had been mutilated.
Pandya Friday appeared before the tribunal.
The tribunal heard that he acted beyond the “limits of his competence” and removed parts of the woman’s genitals which should have remained intact.
Pandya admitted performing a routine labiaplasty on the woman, but denied the General Medical Council’s (GMC) claims that he was acting beyond his competence and the results were the equivalent of female genital mutilation (FGM).
The GMC is the umbrella body of doctors all practising doctors in Britain must be registered with.
The woman approached the Regency Clinic in east London and Pandya performed a labiaplasty operation on her in March 2012, the tribunal heard.
Labiaplasty is the most common type of women’s cosmetic genital surgery in Britain, and can be carried out in any National Health Service (NHS) centres, the report said.
The doctor become one of the two men to be charged with carrying out female genital mutilation in Britain.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said in November last year that it should no longer be carried out at the NHS centres.
The tribunal heard that the doctor removed and damaged certain parts of the woman’s genitals; that the result was the equivalent of FGM.
It also heard that Pandya had not practised gynaecology since 1994.
Pandya is currently subject to an interim conditional GMC order, originally imposed in July last year, which restricts the work he is allowed to carry out, the report said.
The hearing continues.
