A woman in Pakistan was brought to a hospital in Peshawar   with a nail hammered into her head, at the behest of a faith healer who said that this would result in her giving birth to a baby boy instead of girl.

Police are now on the hunt for the faith healer.

According to a report in leading Pakistan daily Dawn, Peshawar police chief Abbas Ahsan took notice after pictures of the woman went viral on social media and directed SP City Ateeq Shah to trace the victim and arrest the "fake aamil."

According to a tweet from the Twitter handle of the Peshawar police, a police team reached Lady Reading Hospital, where the woman is being treated, and met with the hospital administration to identify the victim.

Earlier today, CCPO Ahsan said that a special team had been constituted to "bring to justice the fake peer (faith healer) who played with the life of an innocent woman and put a nail in her head with the false promise of a male child."

"The team will also investigate why the incident was not reported to the police by the treating doctor," he said.

The woman is reported to have fallen unconscious at home and was brought to hospital. At this point it was not clear whether it was the faith healer who hammered the nail into the woman’s head or she herself committed the bizarre and painful act.

The Dawn quoted Dr Haider Suleman, the resident neurosurgeon at LRH, as saying that the victim was bleeding when she was brought in and was given first aid before being taken to the operation theatre where the nail was removed.