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Rushdie Loses Sight in an Eye, Function in a Hand After Stabbing

By LokMarg 23rd October 2022

Renowned author Salman Rushdie has lost eyesight in one of his eyes and use of one of his hands, media reports said quoting the author’s agent as saying.

Rushdie, 75, was stabbed on stage at the Chautauqua Institution on August 12. He was airlifted to a hospital in northwestern Pennsylvania and underwent surgery. He also suffered a damaged liver and severed nerves in an arm and an eye reported Fox News.

Rushdie’s agent Andrew Wylie told a Spanish daily newspaper El Pais, “[His wounds] were profound, but he’s [also] lost the sight of one eye … He had three serious wounds in his neck. One hand is incapacitated because the nerves in his arm were cut. And he has about 15 more wounds in his chest and torso. So, it was a brutal attack.”

However, Wylie did not make it clear whether Rushdie was still recovering in the hospital. He rather noted the importance of the fact he is going to survive.

Hadi Matar, the man accused of stabbing renowned author Salman Rushdie on stage in New York state on August 12, pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder and assault.

Matar, 24, made the plea in a courtroom in Chautauqua County, New York, CNN reported. This comes after prosecutors said a grand jury had indicted him.

Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt reportedly noted that Matar might have been motivated by a USD 3 million bounty placed on Rushdie by the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran, said the media portal.

The suspect, who hails from New Jersey, allegedly stabbed the Indian-born British author in western New York state during a lecture, praised Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini, and admitted that he didn’t think that the author would survive.

“When I heard he survived, I was surprised, I guess,” Hadi Matar said as quoted by the New York Post. The suspect was asked whether he was inspired by the late Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who issued a fatwa against Rushdie over his book ‘The Satanic Verses.

Matar replied, “I respect the Ayatollah. I think he’s a great person. That’s as far as I will say about that,” Matar said, noting he only “read like two pages” of Rushdie’s controversial novel. “I read a couple of pages. I didn’t read the whole thing cover to cover,” he said.

Rushdie has long faced death threats over his 1988 book ‘The Satanic Verses. The Booker prize-winning author was attacked as he was about to give a lecture.

Rushdie has suffered years of death threats over the ‘The Satanic Verses’ which was severely criticized by Islamic clerics. (ANI)