The shanty home of another Slumdog Millionaire child star was torn down by Mumbai authorities today as they demolished part of a city slum where she lived. The stepmother of 9-year-old Rubina Ali, who portrayed a young Latika, the Oscar-winning film's heroine, said her husband was beaten by police who were supervising the demolition. She said he was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.
"How can the police barge in anytime without giving us notice?" Munni Qureshi said as she wept, holding her forehead. Neighbors poured water over her to keep her cool as she sat in the scorching summer sun with Rubina. Last week, bulldozers demolished the home of fellow child star Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail in a similar cleanup drive in a different part of the same slum. By Wednesday temporary homes had already sprung up in the area. His family tied blankets and sheets of blue and yellow tarp to a wooden frame to create a new shelter. (More film stories.)