Slumdog Millionaire Girl 'Not for Sale' | 04/20/2009 10:15 am

Slumdog Millionaire Actress Rubina Ali 'Not for Sale' Says Dad

Father of Rubina Ali, Rafiq Qureshi, denies the News of World claim that he tried to sell his ‘Oscar child’ for nearly $300,000

By The Staff at wowOwow.com

Rubina Ali © AP

The father of the adorable child actress in "Slumdog Millionaire" denies a shocking report that he tried to sell his 9-year-old daughter for nearly $300,000.

The News of the World claims that Rafiq Qureshi and his second wife put young Rubina Ali, who starred as little Latika in the Oscar-winning film, on the shopping block. Qureshi reportedly said he "got nothing" from the film, which followed a Mumbai orphan’s rags-to-riches story. Staffers at the British tabloid posing as a wealthy Arab Sheikh couple said they wanted to adopt Rubina and take her to live in Dubai. Qureshi demanded 200,000 pounds, roughly $296,000 — which the dad’s brother said was a bargain because Ali is not an ordinary girl, but "an Oscar child."

We didn't accept any money from them

Following the shocking News of the World report, Qureshi spoke with the BBC News website on Monday and said, "my daughter is not for sale."

Qureshi, in a lengthy interview, said he had been trapped into a situation of "great temptation," but he firmly denied accepting any deal to sell his daughter or give her up for adoption. Rubina and her father reportedly met three times with two people posing as a wealthy Arab couple from Thursday to Saturday.

After meeting with the couple twice at a Mumbai hotel, both parties met a final time in Qureshi’s hut. It was there when Qureshi says he denied their generous offer. "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."

He also tells the BBC that he now feels deceived by the media.

"They played dirty with us, but we didn’t accept any money from them. My daughter is not for sale."

While Qureshi says he felt the couple pitied him and their poor situation, according to reports published in February, Rubina and her young co-star Azharuddin Ismail, 10, were both given homes by the Indian government for bringing "laurels to the country."

11 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

This is another movie in itself. The thought of someone being put up for sale because the parents are poor is mind-boggling. Good for the father who resisted but, even if this was a media ploy, what a horrible thing to do to a family that is poor to put them in this situation. This little girl is a PERSON not a commodity.

By Judy K. on 04/20/2009 10:46 am

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No matter what the outcome would have been, why do this kind of journalism? That is an outrage.

By Jeannot Kensinger on 04/20/2009 10:58 am

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If you read the source articles, it seems he had already put her up for sale/adoption and the News of the World got wind of it, then followed the story. The articles also indicate that this is common practice in India.

Girls are a burden to the family; this is a country where bride-burnings, acid attacks by spurned lovers, and female abortion and female infanticide are pretty common. In 1901, there were 972 girls per 1000 boys. In 2001, there were even fewer: 927 girls per 1000 boys. Independence, nukes, a million-man army, Bollywood, and Bangalore’s version of Silicon Valley - none of those advances in the last hundred years has made a lick of difference in the plight of women in India.

By Lila Kuh on 04/20/2009 1:35 pm

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Since men determine the sex of the child, they shouldn’t be so eager to let girls be demeaned, sold, beaten, married-off or forced into prostitution. They should be proud of having a healthy little CHILD, whether it be boy or girl. Since this isn’t the case, don’t have ANY children if having a girl is such a burden. Hopefully, with the advent of world-wide internet getting these atrocities out there, this practice will change sooner rather than later. Where is the government in all this? Are they so steeped in tradition they can’t’ see this is just plain wrong?

By Judy K. on 04/20/2009 3:08 pm

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Oh, they have laws. They just don’t enforce them. Kind of like their constitution, which abolished the caste system; yet the caste system is alive and well in Indian society.

"Are they so steeped in tradition they can’t see this is just plain wrong?" …yup.

By Lila Kuh on 04/20/2009 6:27 pm

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He admits he seriously considered it. That’s reprehensible in and of itself.

By Deena B. on 04/20/2009 5:54 pm

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Oh, Lila, sounds like you know about the East Indian ways. I would say the mothers should train the way their sons view women, but I have a feeling they are a part of the whole way of thinking.

By Judy K. on 04/20/2009 7:03 pm

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If you haven’t seen Slumdog Millionaire, have a look. It is a good story, and VERY VERY accurate in its depiction of life there. In fact much was filmed on location in Mumbai’s largest slum.

Among Indian-Americans living in my area, there is a lot of debate: on the one hand, they are pleased that a film made in India, about an Indian hardscrabble success story, has done so well in the US; but on the other, they are not pleased about the depiction of the "seamy underside" of Indian society and conditions.

By Lila Kuh on 04/20/2009 7:35 pm

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Will see Slumdog Millionaire when it comes on Pay per View. Looking forward to it. I just don’t get out to the theater any more. I remember some of the older movies about India but had hoped things would have changed a bit since then. There may be something in movies depicting a country. If it embarrasses them, maybe they will do something about it. More movies, warts and all.

By Judy K. on 04/20/2009 7:51 pm

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funny, Japan is having a female shortage… They used to have the same beliefs…. now they are lamenting at their own stupidity. Don’t people think long term? Sure, get rid of all the girls.. then where would you be? They will regret their sexist ways in a couple of more generations.

There is a reason why nature made us so resiliant. For many thousands of years we have been oppressed, murdered, enslaved, killed off, sold, denied…we still flourish.

By aud b on 04/21/2009 11:07 am

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I was thinking the same thing Aud b. In a few generations when they cant produce any more boys then what are they going to do? Its amazing how a society doesn’t think long term. They just think of the here and now and the guess what the here and now is wrong.

I am not saying that the father in this story did try to sell his daughter. You can only believe half of a news story, most of it is made up just to sell papers. But if he did, shame one him and if the media did it to get ratings then shame on them.

By Deidre Martin on 04/21/2009 1:10 pm