Previously, Salman Rushdie has endured several death threats following his 1988 novel 'The Satanic Verses' which angered many Muslims
Hadi Matar and Salman Rushdie
Hadi Matar, a 27-year-old from New Jersey, was convicted of attempted murder for stabbing Indian-born British author Salman Rushdie, ANI reported.
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The jury in western New York gave the verdict after Rushdie's testimony, who said that he had been struck by his attacker's dark, ferocious eyes. He described initially feeling as though being punched, but soon realised he had "a very large quantity of blood pouring out" onto his clothes.
Matar was also convicted of assault for injuring Ralph Henry Reese, a co-founder of a programme that provides refuge for writers, who was on stage to moderate the event, ANI reported.
As per ANI, Matar is set to be sentenced on April 23 and will face up to 32 years in prison, in addition to federal terrorism-related charges.
On August 12, 2022, Rushdie was scheduled to give a talk at Chautauqua Institution, however, right before his talk, a man in dark clothing and a face mask went onto the stage and repeatedly stabbed Rushdie.
Soon after the attack, he was rushed to a hospital in northwestern Pennsylvania and underwent surgery.
Rushdie had sustained three stab wounds to his neck, four to his stomach, puncture wounds to his right eye and chest, and a cut on his right thigh. Rushdie was also blinded in the eye and the attack also affected the use of one of his hands, ANI reported.
He also suffered a damaged liver and severed nerves in an arm and an eye.
According to ANI, Matar had earlier 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 had said as quoted by the New York Post.
When asked if 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 claimed, 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.
Previously, Salman Rushdie has endured several death threats following his 1988 novel 'The Satanic Verses' which angered many Muslims, who considered it sacrilegious. The late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini also called for his death, which made Rushdie spend a decade under British protection, ANI reported.
(With inputs from ANI)
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