What a difference a week makes.
Last Monday Slumdog Millionaire’s young Indian actors were wrapping up a dream-like trip to the United States where they were treated like royalty at the Academy Awards and later during VIP visits to Disneyland and the world famous Santa Monica Pier.
Monday night they jetted back to their homes in Mumbai and now they are back in the headlines, but for all the wrong reasons.
According to reports, the father of 10-year-old Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail has gone to the media begging them to publish a public apology for beating his son in front of reporters the day after the youngster returned from Los Angeles.
Indian newspapers went to press with shocking images of Azhar cowering in the corner of his home, holding his face after allegedly being slapped and kicked by his dad. Reports say the boy received a brutal beating at the hands of his father, when he said he wanted to sleep rather than talk to a journalist who had offered money to his dad for an interview.
Classy, huh?
The paper doesn’t say whether Ismail’s father personally apologized to his son, but they sure obliged when he wanted to an issue a public explanation of his outrageous behavior.
Azhar’s father defended his actions to reporters saying, “I was very sorry that I did what I did. I was so confused and stressed by my son’s homecoming that I did not know myself for a minute. I love my boy and I am very happy to have him home.”
A welcome home thrashing… now that’s love.
And apparently, things have gone from bad to worse for young Azhar. Reports say the boy spent the weekend vomiting and has developed a temperature of 103 degrees. Azhar’s mother, Shameem Ismail, told news reporters that doctors prescribed the boy antibiotics and says her son is suffering from fever and exhaustion.
Azhar’s mom said: “It has all become too much for him.
He is very ill and has not recovered from going to America and all the media interest since we got back.”
Upon learning of Azhar’s condition, locals who live in the same slum as the Ismail’s reportedly built an 8-foot by 5-foot metal structure for the boy so he wouldn’t be forced to sleep in direct sunlight.
As for Azhar, he told reporters: “I am very sad. I feel sleepy, hot and sick all the time. I can’t get to sleep here – there are too many mosquitoes and it is so hot. I just wish I was in America still.”
And away from his money-hungry crazy father who wants to cash in on his son’s success… or so it would appear.
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