Mumbai: The father of Slumdog Millionaire child actress Rubina Ali tried to sell his nine-year-old daughter in a bid to escape the Mumbai slums, a British newspaper News of the World reported on Sunday.
According to the report, the father, Rafiq Qureshi, wanted Rs 2 crore for her. The newspaper's reporters had posed as a wealthy family from Dubai.
Slumdog Millionaire, a rags-to-riches tale of children from the slums of Mumbai, won eight Oscars in February, including the best picture award.
However, Rubina's cousin Ruksar has denied the reports.
"The sheikh's wife came from London, because she wanted to meet Rubina. She was very moved when she saw Slumdog Millionaire. All these allegations are false," said Ruksar.
It must be noted that according to reports in March, Rubina had her education sponsored.
This is not the first time that Rubina's father is in news for wrong reasons.
Earlier in February, Rubina's mother Khushi was sore that she had not met her daughter after her return from the Oscars. Rubina's father Rafiq had married again as he was estranged from Khushi.
"I suspect my husband must have kept her hidden from me. This is very unfortunate and unfair, keeping the daughter away from her mother," Khushi had said.
Rubina's father had then said that he had taken Rubina to a relative's home in Parel, a central Mumbai suburb, to protect her from the huge domestic and international media contingent. (With agency inputs)