Author Salman Rushdie, whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was stabbed by Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old from New Jersey, at a literary event in New York on August 12. Rushdie has lost sight in one eye and one hand following the attack, his agent said on Sunday.
The agent, Andrew Wylies, described the extent of the injuries Rushdie suffered in the “brutal” attack in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais, Reuters reported.
“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,” he said.
Rushdie, 75, had suffered a damaged liver and severed nerves in an arm and an eye.
The attack came more than 30 years after Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie’s death over his book ‘The Satanic Verses’. The book has been banned in Iran since 1988, as many Muslims consider it to be blasphemous.
The agent also told the newspaper he could not say whether Rushdie remained in a hospital or discuss his whereabouts. He’s going to live , That’s the important thing, Wylie said.
Meanwhile, Hadi Matar has pleaded not guilty to second-degree attempted murder and assault charges. He is being held without bail in a western New York jail.