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Both Rubina and her father denied the British tabloid story about selling her.
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CAIRO — The father of the child actress who shot to international stardom after the "Slumdog Millionaire" movie captured eight Oscars denied claims of trying to sell his nine-year kid.
"When we questioned Rubina she said she does not want to go anywhere and wants to live with her father," police official Prakash Salunke, who is leading the investigation, told The Sun on Tuesday, April 21.
"Similarly, Rafiq Qureshi also said he has no intentions of selling her."
On Sunday, the British News of the World weekly claimed Rafiq, furious that his family made no money from his daughter's fame, offered to sell her for around $290,000.
"Slumdog Millionaire", a rags-to-riches tale of children from the slums of India's Mumbai, has taken £185 million at box offices worldwide.
The movie was set largely among the poverty-stricken districts of Mumbai, which is home to Rubina and other "Slumdog" child stars in real life.
The girl attended the prestigious Academy Awards in February when the film won eight Oscars, including the coveted best picture.
But Rafiq blasted the News of the World report as a lie, saying he agreed to meet
a man claiming to be from West Asia because he said had an offer for his daughter.
He added that during the meeting, which took place in a five-star hotel, his was showered with gifts, including jewelry.
"After this they made an offer of money in English which I did not understand," insisted the father, who makes £2 a day as a laborer.
"I politely said Rubina is happy with me and wanted to leave."
Rubina, who still lives in Garib Nagar, a small, filthy slum next to a train track in north Mumbai, supported her father's version of the story and insisted that she wants to stay with him.
Probe
Despite the denial from the father and the daughter, Rafiq has been arrested on charges leveled by his ex-wife; Rubina's mother.
"We are registering her grievance and then we'll investigate and decide what further steps should be taken in the matter," said Salunke, the police official.
Khurshida Begum, the mother, said she first knew the issue two weeks ago even before it made headlines worldwide.
"My elder daughter had informed me," she told The Sun.
Branding Rafiq and his current wife as "money-crazy", she accused them of trying to cash-in on the fame of her young daughter.
"I did not believe he would actually go through with it."
Investigators are now waiting to receive the British tabloid video recordings of the meeting during which the alleged deal was discussed.
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