JUMANA NAGARWALA

A judge dismissed a new batch of charges Tuesday in the government's investigation of genital mutilation against girls in a Muslim sect, saying prosecutors in Detroit retaliated after major courtroom losses.

A judge dismissed a new batch of charges Tuesday in the government’s investigation of genital mutilation against girls in a Muslim sect, saying prosecutors in Detroit were being vindictive after major courtroom losses.

A federal judge has tossed out the case against a Metro Detroit area doctor facing charges for female genital mutilation (FGM)

More than four years after the federal government brought criminal charges against two Michigan doctors and four mothers accused of subjecting children to religious-based female genital mutilation, the case was thrown out of federal court Tuesday. While the federal law outlawing female genital mutilation was passed by Congress in 1996, this was the first indictment under the statute in the federal courts. “It is unreasonable for the prosecutor to bring any of these charges in light of the Court’s ruling that the FGM (female genital mutilation) statute is unconstitutional,” Friedman ruled. The purported federal offense in this case is FGM. More on MLive:A glimpse inside the secret practice of female circumcisionHow FGM defendants explain female circumcisionStronger penalties for female genital mutilation approved by state HouseGenital mutilation suspects to be released on bondProsecutor says defendants in genital mutilation case also committed sex crimeGenital mutilation suspects say money was for Quran lessons, not surgeriesDetroit doctor accused of performing female genital mutilation on minors

Federal prosecutors say a secret network of doctors in several states including Michigan performed female genital mutilation (FGM) on girls for years.