Pregnant woman gets two-inch nail hammered into her head to 'make sure baby is a boy'

dailystar.co.uk:

pregnant woman had a nail hammered into her head by a faith healer who claimed it would 'guarantee' that she gave birth to a boy.The woman attended Lady Reading Hospital in the city of Peshawar, Pakistan with the two-inch nail pierced into the top of her forehead and in 'immense pain'.She had already attempted to remove the nail with pliers but sought emergency assistance when she couldn't get it out.Initially, the woman had told hospital staff that she had done it to herself on the advice of the faith healer, but later admitted it had been done to her.The mother-of-three visited the healer after being told by doctors she was going to have another girl and her husband threatened to divorce her if she failed to give birth to a boy, Geo News reports.In South Asia, a son is often preferred as they give the parents more financial security than daughters.The two-inch nail had pierced the top of the woman's forehead but missed her brain, an X-ray showed.For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.Doctor Haider Khan said that a hammer or other heavy object was used to knock it in and added that "she was fully conscious, but was in immense pain" when she arrived at the hospital.Peshawar police said victim support officers are aware of the incident and will be taking details from the victim so the appropriate 'legal action will be taken' against those involved.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."Exploitative faith healers, that practice Sufism, are common across Muslim-majority Pakistan despite the disapproval of some.