Oscar Child For Sale: Father Tried to Sell Slumdog Millionaire's Rubina Ali

Posted by Alex in Baby & Kids, Movies & SciFi on April 21, 2009 at 4:21 pm


Slumdog Millionaire may have won the Oscars a few weeks ago, but the drama didn’t end when the curtains came down.

Reporter Mazher Mahmood of The News of the World set off a firestorm of controversy when he went undercover in India to buy Slumdog actress Rubina Ali from her poverty-stricken father:

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!"

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17 comments to "Oscar Child For Sale: Father Tried to Sell Slumdog Millionaire's Rubina Ali"

  1. phlyingpenguin
    April 21st, 2009 at 4:51 pm

    Something tells me that "News of the World" isn't the most trustworthy news source to quote on something like this. I've seen this article being pushed on Reddit several times throughout the week, all from this exact same article and I can't really find something that I trust to be true on the matter. The Chicago Tribune, for example, refutes the article.

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-tc-ft-slumdog-gir l-0420-0421apr21,0,893300.story

  2. david23456
    April 21st, 2009 at 6:10 pm

    there's nothing neat about this story, neatorama.

  3. DaveL
    April 21st, 2009 at 7:36 pm

    Makes perfect sense to me considering how their culture works.

  4. zerovoltage
    April 21st, 2009 at 8:34 pm

    update? http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090420/ap_en_ce/as_india_slumdog

  5. Johnny Cat
    April 21st, 2009 at 8:34 pm

    Aw, man...if it's true, that really sucks.

  6. Ali S.
    April 21st, 2009 at 9:23 pm

    I'm reading conflicting reports about this story as of late. Either way, this kid really needs to get some support from people who don't wanna exploit her - father and dubious news corps.

  7. zav
    April 21st, 2009 at 10:41 pm

    Six fifty and that's my final offer.

  8. Jill Harness
    April 21st, 2009 at 11:35 pm

    I think the thing that should really open our eyes is that the family is still so poor after the success of the movie. She should have a good chunk of the profits from the movie and thus, her parents shouldn't want or need to sell her at all.

  9. R
    April 22nd, 2009 at 12:56 am

    This is irresponsible reporting. At least one version of the story claims that the dad's ex-wife planted the story to get an upper hand in a custody battle, and that the dad was adamant that he would never ever do such a thing.

    Neatorama, please check your sources before you cut and paste from the National Enquirer etc.

  10. GQ
    April 22nd, 2009 at 5:05 am

    The News of the World is a tabloid and therefore not to be trusted at all.

  11. misterplug
    April 22nd, 2009 at 10:44 pm

    I love Neatorama, I do. It's an excellent source for quirky and beautiful things. But the source for this post is, by all reliable accounts, probably a pack of lies.

    'Nother update:
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090422/ap_on_en_mo/as_india_slumdog_4

    It's questionable sourcing like this that makes me NOT want to read Neatorama on a daily basis, or at all. When I quit coming by here, the credulous blogging of stuff like this will be the reason why.

    I know this comment probably reads as pretty harsh, but I swear it's typed with love and respect. Neatorama, you're better than this.

  12. Wok
    April 23rd, 2009 at 9:08 am

    Dude, the charges just dropped.

    Update fail

  13. J
    April 23rd, 2009 at 1:51 pm

    First of all, let's get one thing straight. It is Not Wrong to sell a child, as long that child is rightfully yours. You have the right to do anything with that child as long as you raised it. This a common matter of confusion for most people I notice, no matter what culture they're from...

  14. -H
    April 23rd, 2009 at 8:58 pm

    J,

    a) It IS illegal to sell your child precisely because you do not "own" your children.
    b) Whatever la-la-land you live in, the same rules of child traffic and ownership do not apply to India.

    -H

  15. J
    April 24th, 2009 at 7:22 am

    This is also very interesting. I notice I often get accused of being in la-la-land by individuals who are themselves in this so called la-la-land. It's very intriguing to me and presents an interesting situation, because, these people are the ones who are wrong, yet they would swear to anything on this good green earth that it is the other way around.

    This is my point exactly. The laws are generated by people with this horrible misconception, that somehow the work I put into birthing a child, rearing he or she, raising it, is somehow not my own anymore. How widespread these kind of laws are point to how prolific these odd views are.

    Bless you, my son..

  16. Robert
    April 24th, 2009 at 1:28 pm

    Excuse me, DaveL???
    "Makes perfect sense to me considering how their culture works."
    Just what is that supposed to mean? Please explain how "their culture works"? Way to go and make a huge unfounded generalization that Indians are immoral people who love selling their kids because that's just "how their culture works".

    Get off your high horse.
    Approximately one out of every 6 people in the WORLD is Indian, and India itself is comprised of many different cultures. But according to you they're all immoral savages, apparently.

  17. Ajan
    April 27th, 2009 at 3:25 am

    Good one Robert!! :)


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