Fullbright Scholar's Eyes Gouged Out Nose Bitten Off by Husband

Syeed Hasan gouged his devout wife's eyes out with his fingers and chewed part of her nose off in front of their young daughter. "There is a possibility that her husband will get away with it."

UBC scholar blinded by husband Vancouver Sun
Rumana Manzur as beaten, maimed and blinded last month in front of her daughter by her jealous husband in Bangladesh. Now UBC's president and others are rallying to support her and all women who are victims of domestic violence
Family and friends of a celebrated University of B.C. scholar who was savagely beaten and blinded in Bangladesh by her husband are calling for justice.
Rumana Manzur, 33, a Fulbright scholar from Bangladesh, has been completing a master's degree at UBC.
In May, she returned to Bangladesh to visit her five-yearold daughter and husband.
Shortly after her return, Manzur's husband brutally attacked her.
Syeed Hasan allegedly gouged her eyes out with his fingers and chewed part of her nose off in front of their young daughter during a bitter argument over her education.
Manzur was slated to return to UBC in August to complete a thesis on climate change.
Marleen deRuiter, a St. John's College residence roommate of Manzur's, described her as very devout, cheerful, caring and a doting mother who called her daughter every day in Bangladesh.
"She is very, very upset that she will never see her daughter again and there is a possibility that her husband will get away with it," said deRuiter.
Saif Islam, a UBC student who works on behalf of Bangladeshi students at the university, has been in contact with Manzur's family.
Islam said Manzur's husband attempted to evade the police and defended his actions by accusing Manzur of having an affair.
Manzur appeared on Bangladeshi television from her hospital bed to defend herself against her husband's accusations and plead for justice.
The accusations of an affair have outraged her family and friends, and Islam published an open letter from Bangladeshi families in Vancouver condemning the "baseless" assault on her character.
Islam said her husband, who is unemployed, attacked her and blinded her to prevent her from continuing her education.
Manzur's plight has drawn public protests in Bangladesh, where she was also a professor at the University of Dhaka.
"After protests in Bangladesh, and from St. John's College, [her husband] admitted he made up [the accusations of infidelity]," said Islam. "After assaulting her physically, he assaulted her character."
Islam, a PhD student studying domestic violence and women's networks in Bangladesh, said that country only recently passed a law protecting women from domestic violence.
"I have not seen any good enforcement of the law," he said. "I just saw her on TV. Her eyes were covered, part of her nose was taken off by her husband and there are bandages and bruises all over her face and hands."
Manzur's parents had her moved briefly to a hospital in India to see if her vision could be saved, but doctors said the damage was too severe, said Islam.