An Egyptian court agreed on Thursday to hear an appeal by prosecutors against an acquittal verdict given to two men charged in relation to performing a female circumcision operation that killed a teenage girl in 2013.

The acquittal of the girl's father and the doctor who performed the operation was announced by a court in Egypt's Nile Delta city of Mansoura in November.

It was the first time Egyptian courts have looked into a case of female genital mutilation, a practice that was officially banned in 2008.

The court acquitted the defendants of performing female circumcision, exposing the child to danger and forcing the child to undergo the operation. It also acquitted the doctor of operating in an unfit medical facility.

The United Nations expressed "deep concern" about the verdict in a statement in November.

Although banned, FGM is still widespread in Egypt in both Muslim and Christian families, especially in rural areas.

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