A graduate student from the University of British Columbia was blinded and maimed, allegedly at the hands of her husband, while visiting her family in Bangladesh.

Rumana Manzur had returned to Dhaka on a break from her studies, when she was attacked on June 5.

"I came home after nine months to see my daughter. But I could not see her for long," Manzur told journalists at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, according to Dhaka's The Daily Star newspaper.

Images from local media show Manzur wearing dark, wraparound glasses with a heavily bandaged nose.

Manzur's husband, Hasan Sayeed Sumon, was arrested by police and reportedly confessed to attacking his wife. Manzur and Sumon have a five-year-old daughter together.

Manzur's eyes were gouged and her nose was bitten in the attack.

Manzur, who is an assistant professor at Dhaka University's international relations department, is completing a Master's degree in political science at UBC in Vancouver.

"He has made my world dark. I can't see my daughter," she told reporters.

Stephen Toope, president of UBC, posted a message on the university's website last week expressing his concern for Manzur.

"Along with all of Ms. Monzur's (sic) colleagues, friends, and instructors, I was appalled to learn of the violence she has suffered," Trope wrote.

"I join with other members of the UBC community in expressing my condolences, my support, and my prayers for Rumana at this difficult time."

Manzur's father Manzur Hossain took her for specialized care in India on June 14, after she received initial treatment in Bangladesh following the June 5 attack.

However, they were told nothing could be done so soon after the injury, and he returned his daughter to Dhaka.

Trope suggested that Manzur's decision to pursue higher education may have played a role in the motivation for the attack.

"This tragic occasion is a poignant marker of the need to work to protect the fundamental human right of all women to pursue education," he wrote.

"The allegations that her commitment to her studies was a factor in the attack are of grave concern. As the president of a leading global university, I emphasize that this right is fundamental to our mission, and I applaud those at the University of Dhaka who are expressing solidarity and support."