There is a kind of collective amnesia around what happened to these women as infants.
They do not remember the pain, the procedure or who performed it. Most did not even know anything had been done to them.
Years later, a conversation with a mother, a question after marriage or the discovery of the term female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) was enough to disturb that silence.
In parts of Nedumangad in Thiruvananthapuram, nine women have described undergoing a practice known as ‘sunnath’, ‘pen sunnath’ or ‘markkam’ as children.
They say it took place around the 40th day after birth, during ceremonies marking the arrival of a baby. Some recall being told that a woman known as an ‘ossathi’ would come to shave the infant’s head and perform the procedure.
A first-of-its-kind exploratory study by survivor-led organisation WeSpeakOut, based on interviews with nine Sunni Muslim women aged 33 to 65 from Nedumangad, has brought these accounts into the public domain.
Titled ‘Understanding Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: Community Perspectives and Pathways to Change in Kerala’, the study does not establish how widespread the practice is, nor suggest that it is followed by Kerala’s Sunni Muslims as a whole.
Two months on, conversations with survivors, a gynaecologist and women’s rights officials reveal both the significance and limits of what is known.
Nevin Sulthan S N, who co-authored the study, was in college when she discovered that she was a survivor. She came across FGM first while preparing notes for a sociology course on violence against women.
“I told my mother such brutality was happening in Africa,” she recalls. “My mother replied: ‘It is not just in Africa. It is done to girls in our family too.’ That’s how I realised that I was a survivor when I was in college.”
Shocked and angry, Nevin asked her mother why she had agreed to such cruelty. “But she herself was not aware of it,” says Nevin.
“No one had told her. She was informed that the procedure had been done as she enquired why I was wailing one day. My mother recalled that other family members laughed at her concerns. Later, she realised she too had undergone the same procedure as a child.”
Several reports have highlighted in the past that many girls in the Dawoodi Bohra community undergo the procedure at around seven. The Sunni women interviewed for the Kerala study, by contrast, said they underwent it as infants.
Some learnt only after marriage. Others came to understand what had happened when they had daughters of their own.
The women described what they were told by relatives or later pieced together: “a small layer of the genital being removed, a prick, slight bleeding”.
Researchers note that some descriptions resembled WHO Type I and Type IV forms of FGM/C.
“The primary motive for the practice is to control female sexuality, based on the belief that women have high libido and that cutting a part of the genital would curb it,” says Nevin.
“For most survivors, questions resurfaced much later, when they began thinking about their sexual and reproductive lives. One of them wondered why she was disinterested in sex. There were also accounts of husbands blaming wives for a lack of sexual interest.”
Gynaecologist Dr Anitha S Pillai says the consequences can vary depending on the type and extent of the procedure. “The effects may only become apparent years later, with menstruation, first sexual contact or childbirth,” she adds.
Pain, bleeding, recurrent infections, difficulties during sexual activity and complications during childbirth can occur. The psychological impact is another major concern.
“The nature and severity vary between individuals. In some cases, reconstructive surgery may be required,” says Dr Anitha.
‘Let us start a conversation’
Notably, the research was conducted in 2024, but publication was delayed partly because of concerns that the issue could tarnish a community.
“The nine accounts show that the practice exists among some families. But we do not know how widespread it is or how many people may be affected,” Nevin says.
Nevin says she found no academic basis for treating FGM/C as an Islamic requirement.
“There is nothing to validate FGM. I did not come across anything that established this is an Islamic ritual,” she says.
On being asked about the practice, Palayam Juma Masjid imam V P Suhaib Maulavi says: “Circumcision among boys is a norm. But I have not come across or studied such procedures among girls. It is not an Islamic practice.”
Nevin says how to place this and communicate without targeting the community on the whole is a difficult question. “But the issue needs to be addressed,” she says. “Women should not have to endure harm because we are afraid of how the issue may be interpreted.”
Nevin says it should be viewed as “part of a larger conversation about control over women’s bodies” and not just a community practice.
“More women and families should recognise and speak out about such practices,” she adds.
“We do not have data to state that this is happening across Kerala. There are, however, individual accounts. What we can do is start a conversation. Basic knowledge of anatomy, including through school education, is vital. I learnt about the clitoris only during my master’s. Not knowing our own bodies is part of the problem.”
‘We will investigate’
The first reported evidence of FGM in Kerala emerged in 2017, when an investigation by NGO Sahiyo found the practice being carried out at a clinic in Kozhikode. The government intervened and shut down the clinic.
Discussing the new study with TNIE, Women and Child Development Minister Bindhu Krishna terms the findings “shocking news”.
“It is concerning that this is happening in Kerala. We have not received any complaints. But based on the study we received, we will investigate the issue further and decide the next step after that,” she says.
Additional director of the department, Bindu Gopinath, says the study’s methodology, veracity and scientific validity need to be assessed before deciding on a course of action.
“But we cannot deny that this is happening in Kerala. Unofficially, people have shared accounts of their experiences,” she says.
“The government will take this issue seriously. However, women have to come forward. We cannot forcibly ask someone about a traumatic experience. Anyone who has faced such violence can report it through the 181 helpline.”
State Women’s Commission chairperson P Sathidevi says she has received the study, but no formal complaint from a survivor.
“For us to be directly involved in this issue, we need to get a written complaint by the survivor,” she says. “Otherwise, there needs to be clear evidence of an offence.”
Nevin wonders how many women or girls will venture to file complaints against their own families. Prevention, rather than punitive action, is the need of the hour.
Dr Anitha believes that clearer legal provisions would help medical professionals document cases consistently. “Beliefs are important, but it should not be at the cost of one’s well-being,” she says.
The report comes as the Supreme Court considers a long-pending challenge to FGM/C. During hearings in May, the bench questioned whether the practice could be protected as a religious practice when it affects bodily autonomy, health and sexual autonomy.
The court is yet to deliver its judgment. And the legal question may take time to settle. Until then, the experiences documented in Kerala call for a careful, compassionate response.