New Delhi: Indian author Sushmita Banerjee, who rose to fame for her memoir Kabuliwalar Bangali Bou (The Bengali bride of a Kabuliwala) narrating her escape from the Taliban in 1995, was shot dead by militants at the Paktika province in Afghanistan.
Sushmita Banerjee, a Hindu, was married to Jaanbaz Khan, a Muslim under the Special Marriage Act on July 2, 1988.
Sushmita, then 27, did not convert to Islam. They married secretly, fearing parental objection. But her parents discovered the marriage and tried to get them divorced. This made them flee from Kolkata to Afghanistan, Jaanbaz's native land.
Jaanbaz returned to Kolkata, where he had a business. Unfortunately, Susmita could not return because the Taliban would not allow it.
