ISLAMABAD - A young man has stabbed at least 25 women this month in a small Pakistani town, police said on Monday, and many women and girls are afraid to leave their homes.
"Most of the incidents have happened after sunset, but some school girls were also attacked while going back home after school," said Haseeb-ul-Hassan, the spokesman for Sahiwal District.
"We cannot confirm the total number of incidents, but its between 25 to 30 victims." Doctors say most of the women in the town of Chichawatni, were stabbed on the legs, stomach or back. The attacker's motives are unclear, although police said he may be insane.
"Most of the women were stabbed after sunset, while two of them were wearing a burqa at the time they were attacked," Dr. Asim Waqar at Chichawatni hospital said by telephone.
His hospital received its first case on Oct. 6 and has seen two or three cases a day since. Some victims have required stitches or surgery.
In the most recent attack, a man on a motorbike dismounted and stabbed a 22-year-old woman multiple times as she was standing outside her house with her sister, Waqar said. The police are hunting a single attacker, Chichawatni SHO Tahir Aijaz told Reuters. They have announced a reward equivalent to $2,000 for his arrest.
Police said that many women or girls now feared to go out at night or to school.