The screw penetrated the skull 5 centimeters

Pregnant with the fourth girl.. a charlatan persuades a woman to plant a nail in her head to give birth to a son

A pregnant woman resorted to a Pakistani hospital because of a nail in her head that was found to have been implanted by a "therapist" who assured her that this method would guarantee her the birth of a male child, medical sources said, Wednesday.

The doctor, Haider Khan, who treated the woman in the hospital, told AFP that she went to the hospital in the city of Peshawar (northwest Pakistan), after she tried to remove the nail herself.

He pointed out that "she was fully conscious, but she was suffering a lot."

An X-ray showed that the screw penetrated the skull five centimeters but did not reach the brain.

The woman said that she is the mother of three daughters and is pregnant with a fourth.

Traditional healers abound in Pakistan, where Muslims make up the vast majority of the population.

However, many Islamic schools of jurisprudence do not support these "remedial" methods inspired by Sufi rituals.

Having a boy is often seen as a good omen in South Asia, as it is believed that he is better able than a girl to help his parents secure an income.

Pakistani police are currently trying to interrogate the woman.

"We will arrest the charlatan soon," Peshawar police chief Abbas Ehsan told AFP.

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