The writer teaches at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. THE gruesome murder of a young, well-to-do woman in Islamabad over the Eid holidays has generated widespread shock. The suspected murderer was a close acquaintance, and the alleged attempts by his influential family to get him off scot-free and flee the country are familiar elements in a sordid story of both class privilege and horrific violence. Perhaps most jarring is the fact that the corpse was beheaded after the murder. I suspect I am not the only person to have heard of this gory episode and be reminded of the spectacular manner in which the Taliban undertook such violent acts at will some years ago. The latter are once again rampaging through the Afghan countryside, with predictable spillover effects in the ex Fata region.