Salman Rushdie lost sight in eye, use of hand, his agent says

By Rabia Iclal Turan

ISTANBUL (AA) – Author Salman Rushdie has lost sight in one eye and the use of one hand following a stabbing attack in New York in August, according to his agent.

"(His wounds) were profound, but he's (also) lost the sight of one eye," Andrew Wylie, a New York-based literary agent, told Spanish newspaper El Pais in an interview published on Saturday. "He had three serious wounds in his neck."

Wylie also said that Rushdie's one hand was incapacitated because the nerves in his arm were cut.

"He has about 15 more wounds in his chest and torso. So, it was a brutal attack," Wylie added.

Asked if Rushdie was still in hospital, he refused to give information about his whereabouts.

"He's going to live … That's the more important thing," he said.

Rushdie was stabbed while onstage at the Chautauqua Institution in New York on Aug. 12.

He is the author of several novels that won widespread acclaim, including Midnight's Children, which won the Booker Prize in 1981.

But his book, "The Satanic Verses," which was published in 1988, stirred protests across the Muslim world with Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran's former supreme leader, issuing a death fatwa against the author.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Khomeini's successor, said the fatwa was still valid in 2019.

Hadi Matar, 24, who is charged of attempted murder, pleaded not guilty at a court hearing in August.

Iran has denied any involvement with the attack on Rushdie.​​​​​​​