Dad tries to SELL Slumdog Millionare child (into child-- slavery? sex trade?) for $250,000
Caden
Posted Apr 19th 2009 8:58AM by TMZ Staff
http://whttp://www.blogcdn.com/www.tmz.com/media/2009/04/0419_rubina_ali_getty2.jpg
Being part of an Oscar winning movie can up your asking price in
Hollywood. Apparently it can also up your asking price should your
father decide to try and sell you.
Rubina Ali, the nine-year-old girl who was featured prominently in the
Oscar winning "Slumdog Millionaire," was offered up for sale by her
father to undercover reporters working for News of the World, the
paper is reporting.
The young child star's asking price was roughly $295,000. According to
the paper, the price started off much lower when he first began
negotiating the deal. Maybe the father forgot to take DVD sales into
account.
See Also
"Slumdog" Kids Cave to Pier Pressure
"Slumdog" Kids Get Slipped a Mickey
Filed under: Movies
Tags: father, oscar, rubina ali, RubinaAli, slumdog millionaire,
SlumdogMillionaire
-------
Father tries to cash in on daughter's fame
By Mazher Mahmood, 19/04/2009
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00035/slumdog_header_1904_35672a.jpg
THE poverty-stricken father of Slumdog Millionaire child star Rubina
Ali plans to become a millionaire himself-by SELLING his nine-year-old
daughter.
In a bid to escape India's real-life slums, Rafiq Qureshi put angel-
faced darling of the Oscars Rubina up for adoption, demanding millions
of rupees worth £200,000.
As he offered the shocking deal to the News of the World's undercover
fake sheik this week, Rafiq declared: "I have to consider what's best
for me, my family and Rubina's future."
Rafiq tried to blame Hollywood bosses for forcing him to put his
daughter up for SALE.
As he tried to fix the illegal adoption deal, real-life slum dweller
Rafiq declared: "We've got nothing out of this film."
Then, almost embarrassed to speak it out loud, he whispered to an
accomplice the price tag he has put on his innocent young daughter:
"It's £200,000!"
That was an astonishing FOURFOLD increase on his opening demand. But
Rafiq's equally demanding brother Mohiuddin insisted: "The child is
special now. This is NOT an ordinary child. This is an Oscar child!"
***
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00035/slum516ws_35524a.jpg
BUY MY DAUGHTER: Father Rafiq (centre) and uncle Rajan More (left)
pose with Rubina and our undercover team
Dad Rafiq is desperate to cash in on their nine-year-old's success in
the blockbuster film by selling her to the highest bidder.
***
He sees it as his family's escape route from the notorious Bandra slum
sprawl of Mumbai.
Rafiq revealed his scheme to undercover News of the World reporters
posing as a wealthy family from Dubai.
Slumdog Millionaire star Rubina Ali's dad puts his daughter up for
sale
Riches
We travelled to Mumbai to expose the illegal sale after a tip-off from
a concerned close family friend and former neighbour.
Shockingly, this sort of transaction is far from unusual in an
impoverished nation where human life comes cheap and children are
often treated as a commodity.
Rubina won the hearts of film-lovers around the world playing young
Latika in British director Danny Boyle's movie that picked up eight
Oscars and a pile of other glittering awards. It tells the rags to
riches story of a young man from the slums who wins the Indian version
of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
Filmed in Mumbai's seething pauper ghetto it depicts starkly true
scenes of poverty and child cruelty, where young orphans are blinded
and crippled by Fagin-like thugs and forced to beg on the streets. And
with a staggering 11 million children abandoned in India every year,
there is no shortage of young prey.
Our informant, now a city tour guide, told us: "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.
"They were approached by one wealthy Middle Eastern family who saw
their plight in an item on Al Jazeera TV. The couple expressed an
interest in adopting young Rubina and her parents' eyes lit up.
"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 Middle East family were moved to tears by the plight of the young
orphans shown in the film and fell in love with Rubina.
"Just as Western stars like Madonna do, they want to adopt children
from poor areas and give them a better life.
"This family wanted to take Rubina abroad. They agreed to come to
Mumbai to discuss the adoption in May.
"But the approach has made Rafiq very greedy and he has said that he
will consider the highest offer for his child. But they realise that
the money will soon stop coming in and Rafiq is open to all offers."
Our investigator made contact with Rafiq and said we had heard he was
considering having Rubina adopted. He told Rafiq he was acting for a
wealthy Arab sheik who wanted to take the youngster to live with him
2,000 miles away in Dubai.
Rafiq replied: "Yes, we are considering Rubina's future.
SECRET SHAME: Rubina Ali is held aloft at Mumbai celebrations by dad
now trying to sell her
"Why don't you speak to my brother-in-law, Rajan, and he will discuss
it with you? I will ask him to call you."
After contacting us, Rubina's uncle Rajan More - who speaks good
English - confirmed: "Yes, 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 her
parents would also expect some proper compensation in return. We are
talking of around £50,000 for this to happen." In another phone call,
father Rafiq coolly confirmed: "Whatever you have discussed with
Rajan, I agree with. Whatever money is agreed by Rajan, I will
accept.
"We can discuss everything about this deal when we meet. There's a lot
of interest in Rubina, she's become very famous."
Without querying the background, intentions, or even the names of
Rubina's prospective new parents, Rafiq arranged to meet us.
Abuse
And as soon as we said the wealthy family lived in the United Arab
Emirates Rafiq suggested: "We would love to come there.
"I have never been there but I have seen it in Indian films. It looks
a great place."
Trafficking of poor Indian children to the Middle East, where they are
forced to risk their lives as camel jockeys or subjected to sexual
abuse, is common in the Mumbai slums. But that did not deter Rafiq.
His first plan was to bring Rubina plus other relatives to visit us in
Dubai to discuss the deal. But he had to scrap the idea because he
could not get a passport. He is disqualified because he is facing
police charges over a knife attack.
That is why he did not accompany Rubina to the Oscars ceremony and her
Uncle Mohiuddin went instead.
Rafiq tried to shrug off the problem, claiming: "There is a case
against me but it's nothing. I'm trying to get it sorted now. In India
you can buy anything if you have money!"
His Plan B was the meeting in Mumbai fixed for Thursday evening. But
he arrived late with his little daughter at the luxurious Leela
Kempinski hotel at 11.35pm, when most children her age would be in
bed.
Also tagging along were trusted sidekick Rajan More, Rafiq's brother
Mohiuddin, a friend called Dinesh Dubey and two young nephews. "They
were all keen to see what the hotel looks like inside," explained
Rajan as he entered the £480-a-night suite.
Smiling broadly, Rubina, who was wearing a torn orange and white
Indian dress, looked around the room in amazement. She was proudly
clutching her new Nokia mobile phone, a gift from a well-wisher.
She said: "My house is as big as the toilet you have here. We live in
Gharib Nagar (Poor Man's Colony)."
As the young VIP ordered strawberry milk shake and ice-cream, dad
Rafiq proudly told how his daughter clinched the part in the
international blockbuster film.
Toys
"One of our neighbours where we live took her to the audition," he
said. "Around 1,500 kids turned up and my daughter passed. The film
took over a year to make and she worked on it for a month."
Slumdog has been a roaring success, raking in a staggering £185
million at box offices around the world.
But Rafiq, 36, again complained: "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 (£2,040). They've been talking about
giving us a house, but all they do is talk." Rubina chipped in: "But I
did get toys. When we were filming in Juhu beach I got some crayons."
In fact Danny Boyle and producer Christian Colson have set up a trust
to ensure Rubina gets a proper education, is well housed and receives
support dealing with media attention.
It was reported that Rafiq had spent some of his daughter's film fees
on medical treatment to a leg he broke while working as a carpenter.
He also used her cash to buy a new mobile phone for himself so agents
can contact him to discuss work offers for his daughter. Rafiq has two
other children - Sana, aged 13 and six-year-old Abbass - as well as
another baby on the way by Rubina's stepmum Munni. Street-kid Rubina
is one of only a handful of youngsters who attend school in her
neighbourhood.
Rafiq added: "What they showed in the film is exactly how life is
here. The government doesn't help us. We get nothing.
"We live in one room, seven of us sleep on the floor. I earn £2 to £3
a day. I have to consider what's best for me, my family and Rubina's
future."
A fortnight ago Rubina and fellow child actor Azharuddin Ismail were
each given a £12,000 luxury apartment by Slumdog sound engineer Rasul
Pookutty. The property in Kerala, south India, was awarded to Rasul -
who himself escaped poverty - by the local council in honour of his
Oscar achievement.
But Rafiq dismissed the gesture, complaining: "We haven't got anything
yet, it's all supposed to come later. It's all talk. It's being built,
it'll take a year to be finished."
Stardom
And Rafiq insisted he had no intention of moving to Kerala, even when
the apartment is complete.
"I won't move," he said. "I can never leave Mumbai. My childhood was
here, everything I know is here in Mumbai."
As Rafiq spoke, Rubina excitedly looked around the suite, giggling and
pointing out a large plasma TV on the wall to her 13-year-old cousin
Mohsin.
Then she spoke about her new-found stardom. "I like being famous," she
said. "Everyone where I live knows me and likes me now. Some people
who I don't even know shout my name wherever I go - 'Rubina,
Rubina'!"
She proudly told us how she had worked with the stars on Slumdog and
with "Uncle Danny (Boyle)".
Caden
> How Much for That "Slumdog" Kid in the Window?
> Posted Apr 19th 2009 8:58AM by TMZ Staff
>
>
> Being part of an Oscar winning movie can up your asking price in
> Hollywood. Apparently it can also up your asking price should your
> father decide to try and sell you.
>
> Rubina Ali, the nine-year-old girl who was featured prominently in the
> Oscar winning "Slumdog Millionaire," was offered up for sale by her
> father to undercover reporters working for News of the World, the
> paper is reporting.
>
> The young child star's asking price was roughly $295,000. According to
> the paper, the price started off much lower when he first began
> negotiating the deal. Maybe the father forgot to take DVD sales into
> account.
>
> See Also
> "Slumdog" Kids Cave to Pier Pressure
> "Slumdog" Kids Get Slipped a Mickey
>
> Filed under: Movies
>
> Tags: father, oscar, rubina ali, RubinaAli, slumdog millionaire,
> SlumdogMillionaire
>
> -------
>
> Father tries to cash in on daughter's fame
> By Mazher Mahmood, 19/04/2009
>
>
> THE poverty-stricken father of Slumdog Millionaire child star Rubina
> Ali plans to become a millionaire himself-by SELLING his nine-year-old
> daughter.
>
> In a bid to escape India's real-life slums, Rafiq Qureshi put angel-
> faced darling of the Oscars Rubina up for adoption, demanding millions
> of rupees worth £200,000.
>
> As he offered the shocking deal to the News of the World's undercover
> fake sheik this week, Rafiq declared: "I have to consider what's best
> for me, my family and Rubina's future."
>
> Rafiq tried to blame Hollywood bosses for forcing him to put his
> daughter up for SALE.
>
> As he tried to fix the illegal adoption deal, real-life slum dweller
> Rafiq declared: "We've got nothing out of this film."
>
> Then, almost embarrassed to speak it out loud, he whispered to an
> accomplice the price tag he has put on his innocent young daughter:
> "It's £200,000!"
>
> That was an astonishing FOURFOLD increase on his opening demand. But
> Rafiq's equally demanding brother Mohiuddin insisted: "The child is
> special now. This is NOT an ordinary child. This is an Oscar child!"
>
> ***
>
Father denies Slumdog child sale
By Zubair Ahmed
BBC News, Mumbai
The father of a Slumdog Millionaire child actress has denied trying to
sell her in what he called a "dirty" undercover operation by a UK
newspaper.
Rafiq Qureshi said he had not accepted a deal to sell nine-year-old
Rubina Ali into adoption.
The News of the World said Mr Qureshi had demanded £200,000 from its
reporters, who were posing as a wealthy family from Dubai looking to
adopt.
Mr Qureshi told the BBC the media had "made fun of our poverty".
"They tricked us into this fakery but we came out unscathed," said
Rubina's father, who is a carpenter in Mumbai (Bombay).
Rubina portrays the youngest version of the leading lady Latika in the
Oscar-laden film.
'Great temptation'
The News of the World said one of its staff had contacted Mr Qureshi
and told him he was acting for a wealthy Arab sheikh who wanted to
adopt Rubina and take her to live in Dubai.
It said Mr Qureshi's brother-in-law, Rajan More, who speaks better
English, had talked of "around £50,000" in compensation.
The paper said that in a later meeting Mr Qureshi tried to increase
this to £200,000 ($292,000).
It said Mr Qureshi was unhappy with the money received from the film
and wanted an escape route out of the slums.
The newspaper published photographs of Rubina and her father in a
meeting with its reporters.
Mr Qureshi agreed to speak to the BBC News website on Monday.
In a lengthy interview, he said he had been trapped into a situation
of "great temptation" but he firmly denied accepting any deal to sell
his daughter or agree for her to be adopted.
According to information obtained by the BBC, phone calls were made
requesting a meeting with Rubina and her father, and the two parties
met three times from Thursday to Saturday.
Mr Qureshi said: "In the phone calls they said a wealthy Arab couple
had been moved to see the plight of Rubina on al-Jazeera TV. The
sheikh and his wife were very upset to see their plight and decided to
help them out. And then we agreed to meet them."
Mr Qureshi said he had met two men and a "memsaab", a term often used
by the poor in India for a white woman.
They had three meetings, two in hotels in Mumbai and the middle one on
the reporters' visit to the family's hut in the Bandra slums. The last
meeting happened on Saturday afternoon.
Mr Qureshi said it was during this last meeting that he was asked to
talk to someone on the phone, who thanked him for letting Rubina be
adopted.
"They made a call to someone, introducing him as the memsaab's
husband, the sheikh saab, and asked me to talk to him. In broken Hindi
he thanked me for letting Rubina come to Dubai to live.
"It was then it occurred to me they were making a deal on my child. I
put the phone down and told them we were leaving the hotel."
'Self respect'
But the family did stay to have tea. Mr Qureshi said: "At this time
they went to the memsaab and came back to us with an offer of 500,000
rupees as an advance. We refused, but they kept saying if we accepted
the offer the money can be arranged in five minutes."
Mr Qureshi said the family went back home after this and "when I woke
up on Sunday morning the story on me was on all the TV channels".
He said he was shocked to see the three people were actually
reporters.
"I switched off my mobile phone because I knew there will be calls
from the media and I didn't have any faith in the media after what I
went through on the weekend.
"They played dirty with us, but we didn't accept any money from them.
My daughter is not for sale."
Dinesh, a middleman present at the meetings, said he had spoken to
people who transpired to be undercover reporters because of Mr
Qureshi's lack of English.
He denied any deal was cut to sell Rubina and also rejected
accusations that he tried to convince Rubina's father to accept the
deal.
He feared the story would bring a bad name to Rubina's family.
Mr Qureshi's neighbours were surprised at the media claims.
One, Mohammed Shakeel, was outraged: "We know how much he loves his
daughter. We may be poor but we have a lot of self-respect. We don't
sell our children no matter how big the lure is."
Priti Patkar, a director of Prerna, an NGO for child welfare, said:
"Talking to Rubina was unethical on the part of the media.
"Local police and child welfare committees should immediately look
into the matter and take appropriate action against whoever is
guilty."
Delhi-based Save the Children official, Shireen Miller, said that
child abuse and exploitation was a "major issue in this part of the
country and there needs to be strict laws to protect such families
from agents and middlemen".
Kevin Yates wtf
so privileged here.
"Caden" <cad...@gmail.com> wrote in message
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