A pregnant Pakistani woman had a nail hammered into her head by a faith healer who said it would guarantee she gave birth to a boy, a doctor said Wednesday.
Exploitative faith healers, whose practices are rooted in mystic Sufi lore, are common across Muslim-majority Pakistan despite the disapproval of some schools of Islam.
In South Asia, a son is often believed to offer better financial security to parents than daughters.
The woman arrived at a hospital in the northwestern city of Peshawar after trying to extract the nail herself with pliers, doctor Haider Khan told AFP.
![Policemen stand guard as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party activists and supporters of former Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan protest against the arrest of their leader, in Lahore on May 10, 2023. (Photo by Arif ALI / AFP) / The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by Arif ALI has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [May 10, 2023] instead of [May 11, 2023]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it (them) to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liability on your part for any continued or post notification usage. Therefore we thank you very much for all your attention and prompt action. We are sorry for the inconvenience this notification may cause and remain at your disposal for any further information you may require.](https://www.afriupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/33EU3RD-preview-897x598-1-120x86.jpg "Suicide bomber kills four at Pakistan checkpoint: police 4")
“She was fully conscious, but was in immense pain,” said Khan, who removed the spike.
The mother of three daughters said she was pregnant with another girl, the doctor added.
An X-ray showed the five-centimetre (two-inch) nail had pierced the top of the woman’s forehead but missed her brain.
Khan said a hammer or other heavy object was used to knock it in.
The woman initially told hospital staff she had hammered the nail into her head herself on the advice of the faith healer, before later saying he had carried out the act.
Peshawar police are trying to track down the woman in order to question him.
“We have collected the CCTV footage from the hospital and hope to reach the woman soon,” city police chief Abbas Ahsan told AFP.
“We will soon lay our hands on the sorcerer,” he said.
Follow our socials Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Google News.
