Baby Dies After His Parents Circumcised Him At Home Without Medical Assistance

A five-month-old boy has died after his parents tried to circumcise him at home without any medical assistance.

The infant went into cardiac arrest at home in Bologna, Italy, as a result of the botched circumcision. He was airlifted to hospital on Friday afternoon but died later that night, according to local sources.

The parents have been charged with manslaughter following the boy’s death.

This comes following a botched home circumcision of a two-year-old who died of severe blood loss in December in Rome. In that case, his twin brother nearly died, too, but survived following intensive care treatment.

Circumcision is not practised among Italy’s Roman Catholic majority, according to Metro UK. Many immigrants in Italy are Muslim and practice circumcision for cultural and religious reasons, but sometimes have trouble accessing the practice in hospitals. For some, the hospital costs are too high. Also, in some Italian hospitals, doctors refuse to perform circumcisions until the boys have reached the age of 4 or even older. Foad Aodi, the founder of the association of foreign doctors in Italy (AMSI), has appealed to health authorities to allow circumcisions at affordable prices and to lower the age of access to help fight clandestine attempts at circumcisions.