Ehsan Rafiq

Dhaka University student Ehsan Rafiq, whose right eye was badly injured in an attack by a band of BCL activists on February 6 over a calculator, returned to his village yesterday after being treated at a hospital in India.

On March 8, Ehsan left for Shankar Netralaya in Chennai for better treatment as per advice of several eye specialists.

Talking to The Daily Star, Ehsan's father Rafiqul Islam said he got his son admitted to the hospital on March 11 and a team of doctors led by Durga Das conducted a surgery on March 13. 

“His (Ehsan) retina has suffered at least 50 percent damage. But no damage was seen in the cornea,” said Rafiqul, quoting the doctors.

He said the doctors asked him to take Ehsan to the hospital after six months. Then, it could be said for sure if the damage to the eye is under control, he quoted the doctors as saying.

The whole treatment cost Tk 3 lakh. On behalf of earth and environment science faculty, its dean Prof Maksud Kamal provided Tk 50,000 for Ehsan's treatment, said Rafiqul.

On February 6, some BCL activists of Salimullah Muslim Hall unit beat up Ehsan, a second year student of disaster management and science department at DU, leaving his right eye grievously injured, as he asked BCL activist Omar Faruk to return a calculator that the latter had borrowed from him.  

Omar and his accomplices punched Ehsan numerous times in the right eye, resulting in damage to the retina of the eye. 

Frustrated, Ehsan yesterday told this correspondent that he was not sure if his eye would get back to its normal stage.

Expressing his grievances, he said the main culprits have not been punished yet.