Manama: Security authorities in Saudi Arabia have arrested a Syrian national for acid attacks on women in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.

The attacker admitted in his confessions that he attacked women by throwing the corrosive liquid on their abayas.

He said that the attacks were motivated by his hatred towards women after he was repeatedly rejected as a marriage partner which led to him developing animosity towards them.

He said he targeted women wearing coloured or adorned abayas, without explaining the reasons. He insisted he was not linked in any way with the victims and that they just happened to be there.

The police launched an investigation on June 24 (|eve of Eid Al Fitr), when the first attack occurred at a shopping mall on Prince Saud Al Faisal Road in Jeddah. The victim reported the incident, saying that she was initially unaware of the nature of the liquid thrown on her abaya.

“He threw some liquid on my abaya and ran away, making strange gestures, but keeping a smile on his face as if nothing unusual had happened,” she said.

He was described as a lean man in his 30s with a swarthy face and wore trousers and a shirt.

When the police stepped up their vigil, expecting another incident, the attacker kept a low profile for some time.

He later carried out new attacks in two other shopping malls.

A witness reported that he saw the attacker running inside a mall and had asked him about it. “He told me that he had lost his wallet with important documents inside it and that he was looking for it,” the witness said. “It was only later when I saw a crowd of people surrounding a woman who had been attacked that I realised who he was.”

Saudi daily Okaz on Wednesday reported that following the identification and arrest of the attacker, the police are now looking for a woman who posted a recording on social media claiming that an African gang was targeting women and children by attacking them with acid.

The woman who claimed she worked at a local hospital will be questioned for spreading fear and false rumours through baseless allegations, the daily added.