Police in Mumbai are investigating accusations that the father of a child star of the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionairetried to sell his daughter for £200,000.
The mother of Rubina Ali (9) protested after a sting operation by a British tabloid alleged her father tried to sell her. Police called Rubina and her father, Rafiq Qureshi, to a police station on Sunday night and recorded their statements.
“On Sunday, Rubina’s mother Khurshid complained to us that her ex-husband was trying to sell her daughter, saying she saw some reports on television to that effect,” deputy commissioner of police Nisar Tamboli said.
The film, about a slum boy competing on a TV game show, won eight Academy Awards earlier this year but sparked controversy in parts of India.
The sting operation by the News of the Worldquickly made headlines in India.
Rubina, who starred as the youngest incarnation of the film’s heroine, Latika, lives with her father and stepmother in a teeming slum in the suburbs of the financial hub. Rubina’s family denied they were willing to sell her.
“We never thought that we would have to face this,” Rubina’s uncle Moinuddin Qureshi said.
“We are poor people, for us, our children are everything. Why would we give her away like that? This is just an attempt to malign her name. After all she has become world famous now, hasn’t she?”
The film’s makers set up a fund for the education of Rubina and her young co-star, Azharuddin Ismail. Authorities in Mumbai also said the state would provide housing for the children.