Husband cuts off wife’s fingers to stop her studying for degree

Summary of story from The Sydney Morning Herald, December 16, 2011

Bangladesh police say an immigrant from the United Arab Emirates cut off his wife’s fingers after he found out that she was studying for a degree without his permission.

Rafiqul Islam tied up his 21-year-old wife, taped her mouth and then cut off the five fingers of her right hand just hours after he returned from the United Arab Emirates, police chief Mohammad Salauddin said.

Islam, 30, admitted to the crime after he was arrested in Dhaka, Salauddin said, adding that police would charge Islam with permanent disfiguration, which is punishable by life imprisonment.

The attack is the latest in a gruesome series of acts of domestic violence targeting educated women in Muslim-majority Bangladesh.

In June, an unemployed husband gouged out the eyes of his wife, an assistant professor at the prestigious Dhaka University, apparently because he could not stand her pursuing higher studies at a Canadian University.

Rights groups said high-profile cases of violence against women have spiked in recent years.