Mianwali police have arrested the man who shot his one-week old infant as he wanted a son, said a tweet from the official Punjab Police Twitter account.

The victim, Jannat, was Shahzaib Khan and Mishal Fatima's first child after two years of marriage. However, the accused was not happy on the birth of his daughter as he wanted a son. On Sunday, Khan snatched the infant from her mother and shot her dead with three bullets.

The accused father also threatened his family and asked them not to touch the body. He then fled from the crime scene.

The family rushed Jannat to the District Headquarters Hospital where the doctors pronounced the infant dead.

Social media users condemned the horrific incident, saying the accused was a "sick-minded evil person".

The incident triggered netizens to share pictures of their daughters, with captions that they feel proud to be blessed for having daughters who are akin to angels.

Journalist Hamid Mir in a tweet raised the issue of the horrific murder and connected it with the Aurat March, asking those Pakistani men, who oppose the event on the International Women's Day, why the women would not march on streets for their right?

"In a society where men love sons, what would women do instead of march?" Mir tweeted.

Following the murder of the infant, a placard in Aurat March stating "Congratulations! a daughter is born", was widely circulated on social media.