Dhaka University teacher Rumana Monzur, who was blinded by her husband Hasan Syeed who tried to gouge out her eyes when he attacked her on June 5, flew back to Vancouver in Canada on Tuesday with a faint hope of regaining her vision, said family members.
A scholar of the University of British Columbia, Rumana, 33, assistant professor of the International Relations Department, has been undergoing treatment at LabAid Specialised Hospital since her return from India on June 20 where her eyes were examined at Sankara Nethralaya in Chennai and Aravind Eye Hospital in Puducherry whose ophthalmologists found no hope for her eyes.
She flew with her father, Major (Retd) Monzur Hossain, for Canada on Dragon Air at about 2:00am on Tuesday, said one of her family members.
‘Though eye specialists of some countries have already said that it is unlikely she will regain her vision, an ophthalmologist of the UBC is scheduled to operate on her eyes,’ Rumana’s cousin Rashed Maqsood told New Age.
David Maberley, associate professor of the Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Department of the UBC, had expressed his interest in operating on her eyes but had observed that it may be already too late, said Rashed.
Canadian immigration minister Jason Kenney is granting Rumana temporary resident permit, reported the Vancouver Sun.
Since Rumana can no longer study, the immigration minister’s only way to bring her to Canada quickly was to grant her temporary resident permit, said the newspaper.
Rumana was attacked last month by her estranged husband while visiting Bangladesh on a break from her Master’s studies in Political Science at the UBC.
The UBC has raised $35,000 so far from many small donations and is hoping to double that amount to cover Rumana’s expenses while she lives with her father on the campus and undergoes any necessary medical treatment, said another Canadian newspaper, quoting Catherine Dauvergne, the senior adviser to UBC president Stephen Toope.
A part of her expenses will be borne by the UBC under the Student Health Scheme and the rest will be met by the fund raised by the UBC recently.
Protests continued in Bangladesh and Canada, demanding exemplary punishment of Hasan Syeed who was arrested on charge of attempting to murder Rumana.
Hasan, 38, a drop-out from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, is now in jail after being grilled for six days by the Detective Branch in four phases, said the police.
The investigators told New Age that the charge-sheet against him is likely to be produced in the court on Wednesday or Thursday.
-With New Age input
