Rawalpindi - A serial knife attacker who had allegedly stabbed at least 17 women and killed one here in 2016 was awarded life sentence on Friday.

According to details, accused Muhammad Ali (24) had attacked working women in the city during few months. Most of the attacks were carried out during night particularly in load-shedding hours.

Rawalpindi Additional District and Sessions Judge Raja Qamar Sultan sentenced Muhammad Ali to life in jail on the murder charge and gave him 10 years in prison for attempted murder. The accused was present in the court as the judge read out his sentence.

In his confessional statement earlier, Ali had admitted that he felt satisfaction after stabbing women because he hated them.

According to his statement, Ali had said his mother was mistreated by her in-laws and had died of cancer when he was a year old. He had stated that his father remarried and his stepmother did not treat him well due to which he lived with his grandfather and aunt in Morgah.

He informed that an unfaithful lover was also one of the reasons behind his attacks on other women.

He used to go out every night after dark and target women who were alone. He confessed that he had once stabbed three different women within an hour one night. He said he had used a kitchen knife to attack the victims.

One of his victims, Anum Naz, a 26-year-old nurse at the Fauji Foundation Hospital, had died after he stabbed her while she was going to her hostel. Her colleague was also severely injured in the attack.

Later, Ali was arrested by the Counter-Terrorism Department after he was identified at a tandoor in Morgah during a search operation on Aug 12, 2016.