Pakistani officials are hunting a ‘sorcerer’ who apparently hammered a nail into the head of a pregnant woman, narrowly missing her brain.
The faith healer’s bizarre actions appear to have been part of an effort to guarantee the mother had a baby boy.
A doctor made the remarkable claim on Wednesday, as an image emerged of an x-ray showing a nail sticking out of the woman’s forehead.
Faith healers, whose questionable practices are rooted in mystic Sufi lore, are common across Pakistan, despite the disapproval of many, including some schools of Islam.
In South Asia, a son is widely 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 explained.
‘She was fully conscious, but was in immense pain,’ Dr Khan, who removed the object, explained.
The mum-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 did not hit her brain.
Dr Khan said a hammer or another heavy object had been used to knock it in.
The woman had initially told hospital staff that she had hammered the nail into her head herself on the faith healer’s advice – but later said he had performed the act.
Peshawar police are trying to track down the victim in an attempt to find the healer.
City police chief Abbas Ahsan said: ‘We have collected the CCTV footage from the hospital and hope to reach the woman soon.
‘We will soon lay our hands on the sorcerer.’
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