Zayn Malik's 3-year-old cousin fighting for life

Singer Zayn Malik's three-year-old cousin Arshiya is fighting for her life in a hospital after undergoing brain surgery.

Arshiya was operated upon for brain tumour Monday and remains in intensive care, reports contactmusic.com.

The singer's sister Doniya, 23, took to Twitter to ask fans to pray for Arshiya.

She tweeted: "Thank you every1 (sic) hu (who) did dua (said prayers) for Arshiya, but she still need ur (your) duas (prayers). She had 1 per cent chance! Just shows there is a god and prayers work."

Zayn, who is currently on tour with the band in the US, has yet to comment.