THE real mother of Slumdog Millionaire star Rubina Ali last night CONDEMNED her ex-husband for trying to sell their nine-year-old daughter and demanded he be JAILED.

Mum-of-three Khursheed is furious that despite Rafiq Qureshi being caught red-handed demanding £200,000 from News of the World undercover investigators he has tried to claim our story was untrue.

"He's a liar through and through," wept Khursheed. "He was captured on tape. Rafiq is evil. He should be jailed for what he's done. Thanks to the News of the World, and thanks to God, I now have the proof and the world will find out what he's about."

Abuse

Sobbing Khursheed then accused Rafiq and his new wife Munni of turning the child star against her.

"When I saw Rubina this week she attacked me, pulled my hair and accused me of abandoning her," sobbed Khursheed, still only 26 years old herself. "But that is NOT true. She's been brainwashed.

"I left Rafiq five years ago because I couldn't stand any more of his abuse and womanising-but I took the children WITH me. It was poverty that forced me to let them go back to him a year later. But we stayed in touch."

Although Khursheed has no money for a custody battle she vowed: "I will now do whatever it takes to make sure that Rubina returns to me. She is MY child and I love her more than anybody can. Even if she doesn't wish to stay with me at present, I'll make sure that she's under the care of the state. I will NOT leave her with a so-called father who tried to sell her.

"Nobody can imagine what I'm going through. When your own flesh and blood turns against you it tears you to pieces. My heart is broken."

And Khursheed revealed how she discovered Rafiq's plot to sell Rubina WEEKS AGO, long before the News of the World was tipped off and our Fake Sheik stepped in. Rubina's 12-year-old sister Sana heard dad Rafiq bragging to relatives how he could make a fortune by selling the Slumdog star to a rich couple from the Middle East.

Sana told us: "Dad was very happy about it. I begged him, 'Please dont sell Rubina!' But he yelled at me to shut up and stop meddling. So I told my mother the next day." Khursheed immediately raced to Mumbai's notorious Gharib Nagar slum ghetto and confronted her ex-husband.

Khursheed told us: "Sana was worried for her sister's safety but Rafiq denied it all. I wanted to go to the police but my family stopped me because they said the authorities would do absolutely nothing unless I had proper proof.

"I'm just grateful the News of the Word stepped in and exposed the plot, otherwise who knows where Rubina would have ended up?" Our exclusive revelations last Sunday made headlines around the globe. They also spurred Khursheed to return to the slums and attempt to reclaim daughter Rubina but she ended up in a catfight with stepmum Munni. The scuffle in front of TV cameras was broken up by neighbours.

Khursheed complained to police and urged them to investigate her ex for trying to sell Rubina. Cops arrested Rafiq and took him for questioning but later announced they were taking no further action. To date the police have NOT contacted us or sought our help. But our dossier, which proves he wanted to sell Rubina to a rich Arab family for £200,000, is readily available to them.

Meanwhile life has suddenly got more dangerous for Khursheed.

"Since contacting the police I've received death threats from people telling me I must withdraw the allegations or I'll be burned alive," she said.

Misery

After blowing the whistle on her dad Sana was kicked out of the family shack and is now living with real mum Khursheed in a rented flat in Juhi Nagar on the outskirts of Mumbai-a 15-minute rickshaw ride from the slums. Sana told us: "Dad kept telling me I was useless and how Rubina was a really good daughter because she had brought lots of money. I was constantly being put down."

Sana is a student at a state school especially set up to help kids from the slums. Meanwhile Rubina has now moved to a better school, funded by the makers of Slumdog Millionaire.

Rubina also gets 1,500 rupees (£20) a month towards education expenses and director Danny Boyle personally visited her school asking them to ensure she does not miss classes.

That is the sort of chance Khursheed wants for all her children- Rubina, Sana and eight-year-old son Abbass. Tears flowed as she detailed the misery that led her to leave Rafiq for a new life outside the slums.

"I was married off to Rafiq when I was just 12," she said. "I was pregnant the very next year but lost the child after I attempted suicide by taking some poison. I was just so unhappy. I was wed to this man I couldn't stand and he abused me constantly. I didn't know what to do or how to get away."

Khursheed claimed her life as a child bride was made worse by bouts of violence.

She accused Rafiq, who is currently facing knife crime charges, of assaulting her numerous times and pointed to a scar on the side of her face which she insists was inflicted by him.

Courage

"I was like a slave and a prisoner," she said. "I was trapped with no future and no prospect of ever finding even a scrap of happiness that normal people take for granted. It was hell."

As each child was born life got even harder on Rafiq's pittance of a wage, £2 a day when he can manage to find work as a carpenter. But Khursheed says she finally gathered the courage to leave Rafiq in 2004 after eight years of marriage. "The last straw was his womanising," she claimed. "Rafiq had a string of affairs and I couldn't take it any more.

"I took my children with me and we lived in a rented shack in the Mahim suburb for almost a year. But then my mother-in-law came and convinced me they'd have a better future with HER as I was still young and jobless. I gave in on the understanding they'd come back when I was settled.

Then Khursheed opened her handbag and produced a torn album containing three faded photographs, pictures of her children. She proudly showed a snap of Rubina in a flowing white dress and said: "I bought this for her. Doesn't she look like a princess?"

Khursheed is now engaged to a man from an educated family with a steady call centre job. She said: "This is the kind of life I want for my kids. I want them to better themselves, get out of the slums, get good jobs, have a future.

"I don't want a penny of Rubina's money. I want HER to benefit. I don't want her to have a life like mine.

"And I don't want her to be exploited by her father."

Scandal we must all help to crush

Adrian Lovett - Save the Children, Director of Campaigns

IT'S a shocking fact that thousands of children are bought and sold around the world every day. Rubina's story may be unique, but child trafficking is not.

From the slums of India to the markets of Sierra Leone, this trade goes on. But these children don't make the headlines and their story rarely gets the attention it deserves.

Now the News of the World has cast a spotlight on the scandal perhaps people will sit up and take notice.

While some parents may be motivated by greed, most only want the best for their children and really believe that the child they hand over will have a better life, be better fed and have a roof over their head. It's a sad fact that 22 per cent of children who stay in the slums die before the age of five.

Save the Children sees first-hand what really happens to vulnerable children who are trafficked. They are forced to do back-breaking work in terrible conditions for a pittance, beg and steal on the streets, or are forced into marriage or prostitution.

Yes, India is a growing economy-but 300 million people still struggle to live on 68 pence a day. When families live in desperate conditions, they are vulnerable to unscrupulous traffickers.

We've been working in India for 30 years. In the past year alone, through our child protection networks, we've rescued 200 children and enrolled them in school.

We all want to see a happy ending for Rubina. India's National Commission for Protection of Child Rights is looking into the issue and will come up with recommendations for suitable action.

Our hope for the young star is that she will be able to get back to playing and learning like most children in the world. Protecting children from abuse and exploitation is everybody's responsibility - families, communities, the police, everyone.

Only by working together will we be able to save more children's lives.

TO donate to Save the Children's work, please call 0207 012 6400 or go to www.savethechildren.org.uk

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