KUALA LUMPUR – United Kingdom-based surgeon Dr Amalina Che Bakri is planning legal action against those who have posted obscenities on social media against her 9-week-old daughter for not undergoing “female circumcision”.
The Malaysian-born doctor, with a Twitter following of nearly 825,000 users, said some social media users had said inappropriate things to her after she said that such a procedure is illegal in the UK.
She tweeted today that she had been answering a question a few days ago on Instagram from a follower who asked if the UK had female circumcision services.
“I replied: No, because female circumcision is against the law in the UK,” said the Twitter personality, who shares medical and health information on her social media channels.
Her reply unleashed a flood of comments from other social media users, some of them critical of her while others made lewd remarks about her baby girl.
These reactions, tweeted in Bahasa Malaysia slang, also included sexualised remarks about the infant.
“I have never disputed Islamic law; in fact, I have stated that if you are in Malaysia, you must abide by the country’s fatwa and laws,” Dr Amalina said in one of several tweets on Twitter about the sexual harassment she and her child received.
“Be informed that I am in the process of taking legal action so that this will be a lesson to all,” she said.
Utk makluman, saya dalam proses utk mengambil tindakan undang-undang supaya menjadi pengajaran kpd semua. Saya juga ingin menegur penulis-penulis artikel yg suka membuat headline clickbait atau mengambil cerita remeh pic.twitter.com/tTCE8YngEb
— Dr. Amalina (@DrAmalinaBakri) December 20, 2022
The clinical specialist also said that when some tabloid news websites had published articles about her remarks, she received further criticism in the comments section.
Dr Amalina said while she was not personally affected by the vulgar language, a line had been crossed when such remarks were directed at her baby.
“Please leave my daughter alone,” she wrote.
Saya tidak terkesan sekiranya kata-kata tersebut ditujukan kpd saya, tapi mereka sudah melampaui batas apabila membuat kenyataan berbaur lucah terhadap anak saya yg tidak ada dosa sekalipun. Please leave my daughter alone. pic.twitter.com/S5ztP9HOVb
— Dr. Amalina (@DrAmalinaBakri) December 20, 2022
Known as “khitan” for Muslims, female circumcision is defined as female genital mutilation by the World Health Organisation, which has called for a ban on the practice.
Muslim scholars have also said it is not obligatory, although it is commonly practised in Malaysia, where there are no laws against it. – The Vibes, December 20, 2022
