Salman Rushdie testifies he thought he was dying after stabbing
2025-02-12
Category: news

Sir Salman Rushdie has told a court that he thought he was dying after being stabbed repeatedly on stage two years ago, leaving him blind in one eye.The renowned British-Indian author gave evidence at the trial of his alleged attacker, 27-year-old Hadi Matar, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and attempted murder.Proceedings are taking place at a New York state court a few miles from where Sir Salman was attacked on 12 August 2022 as he was about to give a talk on how the US was a haven for exiled writers.The attack occurred after Sir Salman spent years in hiding because of threats to his life after his novel The Satanic Verses was published in 1988. 
Warning: This story contains distressing detailsProsecutors, who have not specified a motive for the stabbing, called Sir Salman to the stand as the first witness on Tuesday morning, asking him to recall the moments before and after the attack.The 77-year-old told the jury that on the day in question, he had been sitting on stage ready to address an audience at the prestigious Chautauqua Institution.It was shortly after Sir Salman was introduced that he said he noticed a person rushing at him from his right-hand side.He described the attacker as wearing dark clothes and a face mask, and said he was struck by the individual's eyes, "which were dark and seemed very ferocious".Sir Salman said he felt the first blow to his right jaw and neck, and thought at first that he had been punched. Then he saw blood pouring on to his clothes."At that point he was hitting me repeatedly, stabbing and slashing," the author said, adding that the incident unfolded in a matter of seconds.Salman Rushdie: Losing an eye upsets me every daySir Salman told the court he was struck a total of 15 times, with wounds to his eye, cheek, neck, chest, torso and thigh. His left hand was also stabbed when he attempted to defend himself.The knife wound to his eye was the most painful, he said. At one point, he took off his glasses, which concealed his right eye with a dark lens, to reveal the extent of the injury."As you can see, that is what is left of it," he told the jury. "There's no vision in the eye at all."As Sir Salman, who wore a dark suit, delivered his testimony, Mr Matar often had his head down, with the two never appearing to make eye contact.Sir Salman's wife, Lady Rushdie, cried from her seat in the second row as her husband recounted the incident.He has been worried about his safety since the publication of The Satanic Verses, his surrealist, postmodern novel that was inspired by the life of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad.While it met acclaim and awards in the Western world, many Muslims considered it blasphemous and some countries banned it. Iran's religious leader issued a fatwa calling for the author's death due to the book.That fatwa - a religious decree - caused Sir Salman to face countless death threats. He was forced into hiding for nine years and only began travelling again when Iran said it would not enforce the law.Two weeks before the attack, the author had told a German magazine that he was living a "relatively normal" life as the threats had diminished.
But the attack on Sir Salman in Chautauqua, New York, shattered that feeling of safety.The writer told the court on Tuesday that in the moments afterwards, "it occurred to me quite clearly that I was dying - that was my predominant thought".He also described feeling like he was lying in "a lake of blood".He recalled how bystanders, including members of the audience, subdued the attacker. "And thanks to that, I survived," Sir Salman said.The author told the jury he was airlifted to a trauma centre, where he received treatment for his injuries for 17 days.
Mr Matar was arrested at the scene.The suspect's lawyer, Lynn Schaffer, cross-examined Sir Salman and asked him about whether he could trust his recollection of events given the trauma he endured.The author responded that trauma can alter people's memory, but added he was certain that he had been wounded 15 times. "Afterwards I could see [the wounds] on my body," he said. "I didn't need to be told by anybody."Asked if he had ever had any contact with the suspect before the attack, Sir Salman replied that he had not. He also said the attacker did not say anything to him.More witnesses are expected to be called to the stand in the coming days, including the surgeon that operated on Sir Salman, as well as law enforcement officers who responded to the attack.