TEHRAN: Hundreds of Iranians have rallied in the central city of Isfahan to protest a string of acid attacks on women there in recent months.

Wednesday’s rally is the latest in the public outcry that has followed the attacks, which are extre-mely rare in Iran. The attacks all had same pattern — an attacker on a motorbike throwing acid at women inside a passing car.

According to the semiofficial Fars news agency, police chief Gen. Ismaeil Ahmadi Moghaddam says eight cases of acid attacks have been reported in Isfahan over the past few months.

He says an ongoing police investigation suggests the attacker is a single individual.

Police have already arrested four suspects in the case. Local media have speculated that the attackers believed the targeted women weren’t dressing modestly enough.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2014