Karachi's mysterious knife attacker allegedly strikes again – stabs a 20-year-old woman this time

A 20-year-old woman in Pakistan's Karachi was stabbed on Thursday evening (19 October) by a bike-borne attacker in a case which is similar to recent attacks in the city. This is the 17th woman to be attacked with a knife since last month, with a serial slasher reportedly on the loose.

The victim, Jazba Javed, said she was crossing the road when a "thin man" on a motorbike came near her and stabbed her hand. He fled immediately after attacking her, the Dawn News website reported.

"The man was wearing a cream-coloured shirt," she said, adding that the attacker was not wearing a helmet.

The police have registered a First Information Report (FIR) in the city's Saudabad, Malir Police Station and are investigating CCTV footage and other forensic evidence.

The police, however, issued a statement after the incident denying any similarity to the earlier series of knife attacks on women in the metropolis.

"This case has no similarity with other [knife attack] cases," Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Korangi Noman Siddiqui said, the Geo TV news website reported.

He said that in other cases, the victims had been attacked from the rear. However, in this case, the the perpetrator went about things in a different manner and injured Javed's hand.

At least 15 such attacks on women by a lone slasher were reported from the Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Shah Faisal areas in Karachi from 25 September to 6 October.

On 15 October, the city police stated that they had arrested a person identified as Waseem from Sahiwal with the help of authorities in that area.

However, the suspect could not be brought to Karachi for further legal action as the Punjab police said that "they wanted to interrogate him for recent attacks on women in Sahiwal, Rawalpindi and Lahore first".