Following the death of a 10-year-old girl in Sierra Leone after undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM) , calls for the practice to be banned in the west African country has gained weight.

The girl was cut during an initiation at a secret women';s society in northern Sierra Leone, Ghana Web reported on Wednesday.

Another 66 girls were also reported to have been circumcised during the same ceremony. Following the girl’s death a woman was arrested as investigations by the police continued.

The practice is common in Sierra Leone with the UN reporting that 9 out of 10 women are circumcised. The cutting has been banned in most African countries with Freetown one of only a handful of countries on the continent that hasn’t banned the practice.

Due to many countries banning FGM there has been a significant decline in the practice across the continent over the past three decades.