The Pakistan Police launched a manhunt for a father who killed his 7-days-old daughter just because he wanted his newborn to be a son. The father who has been arrested now was identified as Shahzaib Khan. He had escaped after firing several shots at the newborn girl.
According to the reports, the incident happened on Sunday in the Mianwali city of Pakistan’s Punjab province when Khan pointed a gun at his family members to hand over the baby girl ‘Jannat’ to him. He then shot five bullets in her body leading to her instant death.
The Police registered a case on the basis of a complaint lodged by the girl’s maternal uncle Hidayatullah Khan and arrested him on the charges of murder. Hidayatullah Khan said to the Dawn that he tried to save the child but Shahzaib had pointed a gun at all the family members. “He had pointed the gun at me and the other relatives and threatened to shoot us if we moved closer”, he was quoted.
Shahzaib Khan had been married to Mashal Fatima two years ago and their daughter was born a week ago. His wife Fatima was quoted saying that Shahzaib was enraged when their daughter was born and left the house for a few days. He returned and murdered the girl. She added that he first hit her and cursed their daughter. Later, he pulled a revolver and fired rounds into her body.
The incident created outrage on social media with people condemning the killing as ‘barbaric’ and ‘brutal’. Tehseen Qasim, one of the social media users said that the only solution to stop the brutality was hanging such culprits publicly.
This is beyond barbaric , brutal and vicious.The only solution to stop this brutality is hanging him publically. #Mianwali 💔 pic.twitter.com/czuD8LH1vP
— Tehseen Qasim (@Tehseenqasim) March 8, 2022
Another one named Misbah Munir said that she felt terrible for the mother. “I’m disgusted to the core. I feel terrible for the mother. Look at the beautiful daughter she had. Women lead the world, it’s 2022 FFS. #Mianwaliincident #mianwali #WomenDay2022”, the tweet read.
I’m disgusted to the core. I feel terribly for the mother. Look at the beautiful daughter she had. Women lead the world, it’s 2022 FFS. #Mianwaliincident #mianwali #WomenDay2022
— Misbah Munir (@misbahmunir) March 9, 2022
A women’s group in Pakistan, Aurat Azadi March also condemned the incident to say that the incident showed the country’s reality in terms of the treatment of women and girls. “We need to wake up to the reality of this country and fight against such injustice and oppression”, the tweet added.
Right before the international working women’s day a seven day old little girl was killed by her own father because he wanted his firth-born to be a son in Mianwali.We need to wake up to the reality of this country & fight against such injustice & oppression #AuratAzadiJalsa2022
— Aurat Azadi March Islamabad (@AuratAzadiMarch) March 7, 2022
It is important to note that in some parts of Pakistan, the birth of baby girls is considered an insult to the manhood of their fathers. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2021 Gender Gap Index, Pakistan stands at the 153rd position out of a total of 156 countries. This is anything but a clear indication that gender-based violence in Pakistan has worsened over the years.
