ISLAMABAD: A man who wanted a male child killed his infant daughter in Pakistan's Mianwali district before managing to escape the crime scene last week, Pakistani media widely reported on Tuesday.
Gender-based violence is not uncommon in Pakistan where, according to some surveys, 70 to 90 percent women are subjected to domestic violence.
Women are also killed by their male relatives in the name of family honor, and rights organizations have documented cases where young girls belonging to minority religious communities were married to Muslim men after forced conversions.
The incident in Mianwali has been widely reported by local media after police investigation revealed the suspect wanted a son and shot his seven-day-old daughter after snatching her away from his wife.
Other family members were also present at the house where the incident took place, though the man escaped after pointing his pistol at them.
According to some media houses, the suspect is a second-year student who had married two years ago. The autopsy report indicated that he had shot four bullets to kill the newborn.
Pakistan has tried to address the problem of violence against women by strengthening its legal framework in the past.
Earlier this year, it enacted a law to protect women from workplace harassment, though legal experts maintain such measures are not always fully implemented.
