Slumdog actor's home demolished
Workers have bulldozed the home of a Slumdog Millionaire child star as part of the demolition of dozens of shanties in a Mumbai slum.
Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail was asleep when a police officer woke him up and told him to leave his family's home, he said.
Shortly after that, the shack and about 30 more were destroyed.
"A police officer took a bamboo stick to hit me, and I was frightened," said 10-year-old Azhar.
Authorities said his family will be given a new home elsewhere.
Eight Oscars and millions in box office receipts have so far done little to improve the lives of the film's two impoverished child stars, Azhar and Rubina Ali - who were plucked from the slum to star in the blockbuster.
They have been showered with gifts and brief bursts of fame, but their day-to-day lives are little changed.
City workers flanked by policemen arrived as part of a slum demolition drive - common in India's chaotic cities, where officials struggle to keep crowding under control.
"They didn't give prior notice. We didn't even get a chance to take out our belongings," said Shameem Ismail, Azhar's mother, who has lived in the shanty town for more than 15 years. She has no legal right to the land.
"I don't know what I am going to do," she said, sitting on a bed she had dragged from the wreckage. Next to her was a plastic bag stuffed with belongings.