(Photo: Jerry Lemenu, Special to the Free Press) 
 
 A federal prosecutor dropped a bombshell in court Wednesday, telling a federal judge that the government estimates that as many as 100 girls may have had their genitals cut at the hands of a local doctor and her cohorts. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Woodward disclosed the information while trying to convince a judge to keep a doctor and his wife locked up in the historic case. The Attars have been jailed for more than a month since getting charged in April in an explosive case that has captured international attention and planted a bull's-eye on a small Muslim sect known as the Dawoodi Bohra. The Attars are Bohras, along with the lead defendant in the case, Dr. Nagarwala, 44, of Northville, who is accused of performing the cutting procedures on the two Minnesota girls. Related: 
 
 4 kids in genital mutilation case to stay with parents - for now 
 
 Against Woodward's wishes, U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman granted bond to two other defendants in the case: Dr. Fakhruddin Attar, 53, of Farmington Hills, who is accused of letting Nagarwala use his clinic to perform genital cutting procedures on minor girls; and his wife, Farida Attar, 50, who is accused of holding the girls' hands during the procedure to keep them from squirming and to calm them. "I think the government has overstated so many aspects of this case and this is one more example of overreaching," Chartier said after the hearing, during which she and another lawyer convinced the judge to set the Attars free. She said that's a conservative estimate, and that it's based on Dr. Attar's alleged admission to authorities that he let Nagarwala use his clinic up to six times a year to treat children for genital rashes. They also argued the Attars are not a danger to the society and have no reason or desire to flee, convincing U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman to release them on bond. They will be on house arrest, on GPS tethers, and are not allowed to communicate with anyone except family members or their lawyers. For now, the couple cannot live with their 9-year-old daughter because state officials are trying to terminate their parental rights. Nagarwala, meanwhile, remains locked up pending the outcome of her trial. It involves allegations that two Minnesota girls had their genitals cut at a Livonia clinic in February as part of a religious rite of passage and were told to keep what happened a secret. “That could be me, Dr. Attar, or the pope himself,” Chartier said. To date, the government says it has identified eight victims -- including the two Minnesota girls -- though Woodward said the government estimates there could be as many as 100 victims. “He was at a Barnes & Noble bookstore during the time he was supposedly at the clinic, and Dr. Attar was with his daughter,” Chartier wrote in a court filing. The two physicians face the most serious charge in the case, transportation of an individual with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, which carries a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison. Farida Attar, 50, faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of conspiring to obstruct the investigation. rsnell@detroitnews.com 
 
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– In April, a Michigan doctor was charged with performing genital mutilation on two young Minnesota girls. On Wednesday, feds dropped what the Detroit Free Press calls a "bombshell" in the case: They estimate not two but up to 100 girls had their genitals cut by Dr. Jumana Nagarwala. "The Minnesota victims were not the first victims," Assistant US Attorney Sara Woodward told a judge as part of what is the first case of its kind to be prosecuted in federal court. The government says it has evidence of eight victims (though the Detroit News notes the case at hand still just involves the two). The feds arrived at their estimate based on defendant Dr. Fakhruddin Attar's alleged statement that he gave Nagarwala use of his Livonia clinic as many as six times a year over a dozen years. The allegation came as Woodward argued Attar and his wife, who is accused of helping to calm and restrain the girls during the procedure, should not be released on bail in advance of the October trial. A judge disagreed; they'll be on house arrest going forward, and barred from using the Internet. The prosecution argues the three, members of an Indian-Muslim sect called the Dawoodi Bohra, illegally cut the girls' genitals as part of a religious rite. The defense counters they simply underwent what the News terms a "benign" procedure that involved scraping the mucous membrane of the girls' genitalia; lawyers say what was removed was then deposited on gauze pads and returned to their mothers for burial. (The first person in America to be convicted of female genital mutilation was kicked out of the country in March.)