‘I am fine’

‘I am fine, thank you everyone.’ This is what Khadija said of state of her health. She was smiling, despite the wounds on her body left by the brutal machete attack on her last month. This correspondent talked to Khadija at Square Hospital on Wednesday. Her smile didn’t falter for a moment during the conversation. She said she wants to return home. On 3 October, Khadija, a second-year undergraduate student at Sylhet Government Women’s College, was reportedly stabbed by Badrul Alam, leader of the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), while on her way home after an exam. Khadija was first taken to Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital from where she was shifted to Square Hospital in Dhaka. A video of the attack went viral on social networking sites and sparked public outrage in Bangladesh and around the world. Khadija was from a conservative family in Ausha village of Jalalabad, Sylhet. Some members of her family had discouraged her from higher studies, but she was determined to get a degree and become a banker. His brother Shahin Ahmed firmly supported her. Khadija eventually enrolled in Sylhet Government Women’s College. “I will continue my studies after I return home. The teachers of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology visited me and said they would get me admitted. I will study English or Economics,” said Khadija. On 4 October, Square Hospital’s neurosurgeon Rezaul Sattar told Prothom Alo that Khadija had little chance of survival. On Wednesday, he said to Prothom Alo, “She has recovered and we hope to release her in a couple of days.” Khadija went through two surgeries on her brain and surgeries on her leg and hands. She still cannot move her left leg and left hand properly. Her doctors hope she will recover fully. She will be taken to CRP (Centre for Rehabilitation of the Paralysed) on 24 or 25 November. She will be all set to return home after receiving treatment there. Khadija’s mother Monwara Begum said her daughter can eat normally now. Her father Mashuk Mia said Khadija could barely remember the incident.