LAHORE: Actor Yashma Gill has condemned the alleged assault of a pregnant woman in Gujranwala over the expected birth of a daughter, calling for changes in education and upbringing to tackle violence against women.
Gill reacted on Instagram to reports that a man allegedly assaulted his five-month-pregnant wife after an ultrasound indicated the couple were expecting their second daughter.
“To educate all such men out there, a child’s biological sex is determined by the father’s sperm, not the mother,” Gill wrote.
The actor said “basic manners, empathy, humanity and morality” should be made a mandatory part of school curricula, arguing that repeated incidents of violence showed failures across society.
“We need to shape minds from a young age so that cruelty is never normalised, violence is never mistaken for authority, and another human being’s dignity is never considered negotiable,” she wrote.
Husband Arrested
The incident reportedly occurred on September 27 in Gujranwala’s WAPDA Town area. Police arrested the husband and registered a case under relevant sections of the Pakistan Penal Code.
According to the FIR cited in the report, the accused, identified as Tayyab Mannan, had allegedly been pressuring his wife to terminate her pregnancy because he was unhappy about the prospect of having a second daughter.
The FIR alleges that during an argument over the issue, the woman was severely beaten and subsequently taken to Gujranwala Civil Hospital for treatment.
A video circulating on social media also showed the woman recounting the alleged incident and describing her husband’s anger over the expected birth of another daughter.
‘We Desperately Need to Do Better’
Gill expressed outrage at the reported incident and stressed that women should not be blamed for the sex of their children.
“A woman being beaten for carrying a daughter? Astaghfirullah,” she wrote.
The actor argued that better education, parenting and social values were needed to challenge attitudes that contribute to violence and discrimination against women.
“We desperately need to do better. As parents. As schools. As communities. As a society. Period,” Gill said.
