“Slumdog” Actress Denies Her Father Tried To Sell Her
Rubina Ali
Rubina Ali, a 9-year-old Mumbai girl who made an appearance in the Oscar-winning movie “Slumdog Millionaire,” denies her father attempted to sell her.
“Access Hollywood” said Rubina and Rafiq Qureshi, her father, have spoken out together and denied the British tabloid’s that claim that Qureshi sought hundreds of thousands of dollars in return for the adoption of his daughter.
“I talked to them in the room,” Rubina told CNN of the meeting with “representatives” of a wealthy family from Dubai, who turned out to be impostors hired by the newspaper for the story.
“My dad said I could meet people if I want to, ‘But I will never give my daughter away for any amount of money,’” Rubina quoted her father saying.
Although some reports claimed Qureshi misunderstood the whole purpose of the meeting because he doesn’t speak fluent English, “Access Hollywood” said undercover reporter Mazher Mahmood defended his story on “Larry King Live.”
“It’s completely untrue… We have seven hours of tape,” Mahmood told King. “It’s indisputable. Nothing gets in the News of the World newspaper unless it is 100 percent (true) and this is.”
Mahmood said he set the meeting up with Rubina’s dad after getting information about a month ago from someone close to Qureshi who said “that he was interested in selling his child.”
“All we did was investigate that and the allegations that were made to me,” Mahmood said.
Police said there is “no evidence of any offense” and refused to arrest Qureshi after questioning him, “Access Hollywood” reported.
