First Conviction: The Incident on RTÉ: The Story Behind the Case of Sayeed and Halawa
Documentary series about Ireland's first conviction for female genital mutilation and the subsequent legal battle
What is the series about?
First Conviction: The Incident (RTÉ, 2025) is a documentary investigation into one of the most controversial trials in modern Irish legal history. The series begins in September 2016, when a young couple, known in the media by the pseudonyms Sayeed and Halawa, brought their 21-month-old daughter, Aisha, to a hospital in Dublin. The child was bleeding from her abdomen, and the parents explained that she had fallen onto a toy. However, hospital staff quickly suspected that this was not an accident, but rather female genital mutilation, also known as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
The real case
The case against Sayeed and Halawa marked the first prosecution for FGM in Ireland ever. During the trial in 2019, Judge Elma Shihan described the act as the most egregious breach of trust against a child. The father was sentenced to five and a half years in prison, while the mother received a sentence of four years and nine months. The verdict was welcomed by activists as a milestone in the fight against ritual abuse, but the case quickly took an unexpected turn. Subsequent investigations by independent medical experts found no evidence that any genital tissue had been removed, raising serious doubts about the original diagnosis. This led to the verdict being overturned in the appeals court, as it was deemed that the medical evidence was insufficient. Another trial ended without a clear resolution, and the couple continues to fight to completely clear their names.
Timeline of the case
The events began in the fall of 2016 when the little girl was hospitalized. The police in Dublin launched an extensive investigation, culminating in 2019 with the historic conviction. The documentary sheds light on the legal and ethical dilemmas that arose as the system attempted to set an example in a case where the technical evidence proved problematic. In 2021, the couple was released after appeal, but the social and personal consequences of being labeled as perpetrators in an FGM case have affected their lives ever since.
Watch the series
Streaming of First Conviction is available via RTÉ Player and is produced in collaboration between RTÉ Documentary On One and RTÉ Investigates. The series provides a unique insight into the investigation and includes interviews with legal experts and the involved parties, shedding new light on whether the justice system, in its eagerness to protect children, committed a miscarriage of justice.