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Militants Kill Indian Author in Afghanistan


In this file photo taken on March 6, 2003, Indian author Sushmita Banerjee holds one of her novels.
In this file photo taken on March 6, 2003, Indian author Sushmita Banerjee holds one of her novels.
Police in Afghanistan say gunmen have killed an Indian author whose memoir about life under the Taliban was made into a Bollywood film.

Sushmita Banerjee, who was married to an Afghan businessman, was killed in eastern Paktika province.

Officials said militants dragged Banerjee out of her home, shot her multiple times and dumped her body near a religious school, where she was found early Thursday.

Banerjee, who was from Kolkata, India, wrote about her dramatic escape from Afghanistan in 1995. The book became the basis for the 2003 film Escape from Taliban.

Banerjee had recently moved back to Afghanistan to live with her husband, reportedly to run a health clinic for women. She was well known in the area for her work.

Banerjee's murder adds to fears that women's rights in a country where many are barely allowed outside the house will face setbacks after U.S.-led foreign forces fully withdraw in 2014.
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