A pregnant Pakistani woman had a nail hammered to her head on the orders of a faith healer. Peshawar police are now looking for the faith healer, who allegedly had a nail hammered to a pregnant woman's head, guaranteeing that it would lead to her giving birth to a boy.
Peshawar Police took notice of the incident when the pregnant woman visited a hospital with a nail sticking out from her forehead and her pictures went viral on social media. Peshawar police chief Abbas Ahsan then directed the SP City to track down the victim and the perpetrator.
Faith healers, whose practices are rooted in mystic Sufi lore, are common across Muslim-majority Pakistan. They, however, are disapproved by some schools of Islam.
'She was in immense pain'
Doctor Haider Khan of Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) told AFP that the woman came to the hospital after trying to extract the nail herself with pliers. "She was fully conscious, but was in immense pain," Dr. Khan said, who removed the nail from her head.
SSP Shah noted in a tweet that he reached the hospital where the woman was treated and met with the hospital administration. "The process of identifying the victim from the CCTV footage as well as from the computer entry data is underway," Shah tweeted.
Police are looking for the unnamed healer
A mother of three girls, the woman was pregnant with yet another girl, the doctor noted. The X-ray showed that the 2-inch nail penetrated the woman's forehead but missed the woman's brain. Dr. Khan noted that either a hammer or another heavy object was used to nail it in the woman's forehead.
The woman initially said she had hammered the nail into her head herself acting the advice of the faith healer. She, however, later admitted that he had carried out the act.
Peshawar police are now hunting for the unnamed faith healer. "We will soon lay our hands on the sorcerer," city police chief Abbas Ahsan told AFP.
