Author: FP Staff
Publication: Firstpost.com
Date: September 6, 2013
URL: http://www.firstpost.com/world/indian-author-sushmita-banerjee-murdered-by-afghan-militants-1088021.html

Author Sushmita Banerjee, who wrote the bestselling Kabuliwalar Bangali Bou (Kabuliwala’s Bengali Wife) about her experiences of living in Afghanistan, was today shot dead by militants.

CNN-IBN reported that Banerjee, who is married to an Afghan businessman, was shot dead near her home in Paktika.

BBC reported a senior police official as saying Banerjee, who was also known as Sayed Kamala, was working as a health worker in the province and had been filming the lives of local women as part of her work.

The report also stated that the militants had barged into her home, tied up her husband and other family members, took Banerjee out of the house and shot her. Her body was dumped near a school.

Banerjee’s book, about her escape from the Taliban, was made into a Bollywood film — Escape from Taliban — in 2003.

She had escaped from Afghanistan in 1995, but had gone back to live with her husband Jaanbaz Khan recently.

Banerjee had gone to Afghanistan in 1989 after marrying Khan.

In an interview to Outlook, Banerjee had described life in Afghanistan and how she ended up there.