In Pakistan, manhunt for father who shot & killed his 7-day-old daughter begins

In Pakistan's Mainwali, which is in Punjab province, a man named Shahzaib Khan killed his seven-day-old baby girl earlier this week because he wanted his firstborn to be a boy. Shahzaib escaped after firing multiple shots at the newborn. The girl's maternal uncle, Hidayatullah Khan, filed the official police complaint against the father in connection with the murder. As per the reports of the Independent, Mainwali police officer Hayatullah Khan stated that the infant girl was fired at five times and died instantly. He further said that they are attempting to apprehend the accused, who is still at large. 

Hayatullah Khan added that Shahzaib was enraged when the baby girl was born and that he threatened the other family members who witnessed the murder and waved a revolver at them before ordering his wife to hand him the baby. 

'Shahzaib was enraged and left the house for a few days'

A senior police officer Ismail Kharak stated that Shahzaib Khan, married Mashal Fatima two years ago and their daughter was born a week ago, according to PTI. His wife Fatima said that Shahzaib was enraged when their daughter was born and left the house for a few days, only to return and murder his daughter. She said that he first hit her and cursed their daughter. Later, he pulled a revolver and fired rounds into her body. 

The newborn's death has generated outrage on Pakistani social media, with many calling the incident "barbaric" and "brutal." Aurat Azadi March, which is a women's group that organises annual marches against violations of women's rights in Pakistan, shared a post on Twitter stating that in Mianwali, a seven-day-old infant girl was slain by her own father just before International Working Women's Day because he wanted his first-born to be a son. It stated that they must face the realities of this country and combat injustice and oppression.

500 bodies of newborns discovered in Karachi in the last two years

In the meanwhile, Faisal Edhi, who is the head of the Edhi Foundation, the city's largest social welfare charity group suggests that more than 500 bodies of newborns have been discovered abandoned in Pakistan's largest city Karachi in the previous two years, with the majority of them being females, according to the Independent.