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Female Writer Helping Women in Afghanistan Executed

Female Writer Helping Women in Afghanistan Executed

The woman who served as inspiration for the Bollywood film Escape from the Taliban has been killed in Afghanistan. In the mid-1990s, when the Taliban began to rise to power in the country, Sushmita Banerjee was persecuted for refusing to wear a burqa and resisting the strict rules forced on many women. After the Taliban closed her medical dispensary business and she was beaten by radical Islamists, Banerjee made a dramatic escape from the country in 1994.

After her book about the experience was turned into a popular Bollywood movie, Banerjee became an advocate for women in the country. Earlier this year, she returned to Afghanistan to document the plight of women still facing persecution there. According to her husband, last night masked gunmen broke into their home and abducted Banerjee. Her body was later found two miles from the house. Police say she had been shot more than 20 times. Though her husband said he suspects it was the work of the Taliban, they have denied involvement …

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