Bangladesh academic’s husband held ‘after beating her’

Police in Bangladesh have arrested a husband whom they suspect of “mercilessly beating” his university lecturer wife.The accused man, Syeed Hasan Sumon, is reported to have assaulted Assistant Professor Rumana Manjur so severely that she may lose both eyes.The case has attracted much interest in Bangladesh, where reports of middle class domestic violence are unusual.Mr Sumon has not so far commented on the allegations made against him.His wife says she was assaulted several times after returning to Bangladesh in May from Canada, where she had been completing a Fulbright Scholarship.”He pushed his fingers into my eyes,” she told journalists, “and dragged me by my hair on the floor.”She said that that at one stage Mr Sumon – who evaded capture for several days – repeatedly gnawed her nose, face and throat.The failure to arrest Mr Sumon for so long has been criticised by the country’s High Court, which has ordered police to appear before them on Thursday morning and explain why.Doctors say that Prof Manjur has definitely lost one eye and is in danger of losing another. She is now receiving treatment from a specialist eye surgeon in India. – BBC