Rubina Ali, one of the child stars of 'Slumdog Millionaire' has been secretly put on sale by her father, Rafiq Qureshi.
That's what an undercover reporter for UK paper 'News of the World', posing as a wealthy family, discovered as he paper travelled to Mumbai to expose the illegal sale after it was tipped-off from a concerned close family friend and former neighbour.
As he offered the shocking deal to paper, Rafiq said:
"I have to consider what's best for me, my family and Rubina's future. We've got nothing out of this film. They haven't looked after us."
"They gave some money at the start but they gave us nothing afterwards. They gave us around 150,000 rupees ($3,000). They've been talking about giving us a house, but all they do is talk."
Almost embarrassed to speak it out loud, he whispered his price to the reporter:
"It's £200,000 ($295,000)."
"We are interested in securing our girl's future. Rubina's life is miserable and she lives here with her stepmother. Most of the time she stays with me because she is not happy at her parents' home."
"Obviously if you wanted to adopt we could discuss this, but we would also expect some proper compensation in return. There's a lot of interest in Rubina, she's become very famous."
Rafiq's brother Mohiuddin added,
"The child is special now. This is NOT an ordinary child. This is an Oscar child!"
"Rubina's family are furious that despite the film doing so well and their pretty daughter becoming so famous, they are still living in such rough conditions,"
writes the paper's informant.
"Dad Rafiq is streetwise and knows that soon his daughter's success will be forgotten and her moment of fame will be over. He has a family to feed and simply can't afford it."
"He is keen to find a rich family to bring up Rubina but only if they are willing to help the whole family to get out of the slums."
The paper contacted 'Save The Children', a charity with a strong presence in Mumbai, about the case and was told:
"We will do all we can to help Rubina."
Mumbai police are also probing the accusations.
