HORRIFIC

Female Writer Murdered in Afghanistan

Police suspect the Taliban.

The woman who wrote a book chronicling her escape from the Taliban in Afghanistan 20 years ago was taken from her home there and executed. She was in the country to make a documentary about women. "I opened the gate, and two gunmen with turbans wrapped around their faces burst in," her husband said. Her body was found the next day. Sushmita Banerjee, 49, had moved to Afghanistan from India in 1989, married there, and converted to Islam. As the Taliban emerged, women’s rights were restricted and Banerjee was forced to close her business and beaten for refusing to wear a burqa. She fled and eventually repatriated to India. The police suspect Taliban involvement, but the organization denied any involvement.