Maulana Tariq Jamil calls killing baby daughters 'worst form of ignorance'

• Maulana Tariq Jamil condemns Mianwali incident where a man killed 7-day-old daughter.
• Calls such acts "worst form of ignorance."
• Claims having a daughter is a source of pride and a reason to thank God. 

Popular Pakistani religious scholar Maulana Tariq Jamil has claimed that murder, divorce, and debasement following the birth of daughters is the "worst form of ignorance."

His tweet on the matter came out after a man in Mianwali shot his seven-day-old baby daughter multiple times on Monday because he wanted a son.

Jamil called the incident "very saddening".

He added that the birth of a daughter is a source of pride and a reason to thank God.

"The legacy of God's Prophet (PBUH) continued through a daughter," Jamil added, adding that it is a noble honour to be a parent of a daughter.

The tragic incident happened in the Noor Pura neighbourhood of Mianwali, where a father killed his infant by opening fire on her just because she was a girl.

The case has triggered an outpour of public anger.

The Punjab police on Thursday arrested the father in a nearby district, police officer Inam-ur-Rehman said in a statement.

Human rights groups say girls and women face regular violence for a variety of reasons in Pakistan, because of which the country sits three spots above the bottom of the World Economic Forum's 2021 Gender Gap Index.

Commenting on the incident, the National Commission on Status of Women's (NCSW) Chairperson Nilofar Bakhtiar had said that the sole purpose of killing the child was her gender, adding that the law enforcement authorities will leave "no stoned unturned to catch the culprit."