The estranged husband of a UBC student blinded in a vicious attack has died in a Bangladeshi prison cell while awaiting trial for the assault, according to media reports.
Hassan Sayeed was charged with attempted murder in June after he allegedly gouged Rumana Monzur's eyes and bit her throat and nose during a violent fight over her studies in Canada.
Sayeed died of cardiac arrest in a Dhaka hospital on Monday, according to reports in Bangladeshi media. He was found lying in the bathroom of his prison cell inside the hospital, and prison officials have told reporters that an autopsy is necessary to determine whether the death was a suicide.
Sayeed was accused of attacking his wife in front of their five-year-old daughter while Monzur made a visit home during a break from her political science studies in Vancouver.
Monzur returned to B.C. in July and underwent multiple surgeries, only to discover that the damage to both eyes is too severe to repair.
The Fulbright scholar has said she is determined to continue with her graduate degree, but is currently on medical leave.
