LONDON March 9 - Child prodigy Sufiah Yusof, who enrolled at Oxford University at 13, for a maths degree and then disappeared under mysterious circumstances appeared on television here on Thursday night to say that all she wanted was freedom from her over-domineering father's unrelenting push for her to succeed.
Sufiah, born of a Pakistani father Farooq Yusof and Malaysian mother Halimahton, was admitted to Oxford University as one of the youngest to be enrolled for a degree.
She equalled the record of another child prodigy, Ruth Lawrence, who enrolled at Oxbridge also to study mathematics at an age when her contemporaries were still grappling with the problems of teenage life.
Appearing in a pre-recorded interview in the "Tonight" programme on an independent channel here, Sufiah who has now discarded her hijab which she wore at university and appearing fleshier and fuller-faced, said that she did not want to see her `bullying' father again.
She also claimed that her father also used harsh disciplinary methods which included beating and mental intimidation for her to excel academically as well as in sport.
Farooq, in an interview with Bernama today, strongly denied allegations of abuse and said of the programme - in which he and wife Halimahton saw Sufiah for the first time since her `disappearance' - that certain facts have emerged from it which he did not know before.
Farooq, who had spent nearly 10 hours with representatives of Bournemouith Council in the High Court before the screening of the programme on Thursday night, said that the interview on television revealed to them more than what the programme-makers intended.
The programme was shown to the Family Division of the High Court here hours before it was aired, and before an injunction was denied to the Bournemouth Council which is in legal custody of Sufiah.
Commenting on this, Farooq said it was ironic that he and Bournemouth Council which had taken charge of Sufiah without his consent were now on the same side to protect her interest.
The "Today" programme, hosted by Trevor McDonald, ITV's star newscaster, with interviews by Martin Bashir who won fame when the late Princess Diana made her frank revelations about adultery in an interview with him, made no new revelations about Sufiah beyond that are already in the public domain.
Sufiah disappeared to re-surface in the seaside town of Bournemouith where she was spotted by police in an internet cafe.
From there she supposedly sent an e-mail to her younger sister accusing her parents of "physical and emotional" abuse. She read this e-mail out in the interview.
Farooq is adamant that there is something mysterious about this sudden disappearance and accusation, contending that Martin Bashir did not ask the one crucial question of Sufiah: Did she send the e-mail herself?
He said he is now in consultation with solicitors for further action against the programme makers and the people who are responsible for his daughter's disappearance.
Regarding allegations made by Sufiah in the interview that her parents moved near to where she was studying so that they could continue exerting control, Farooq's reply was that she was then 13, an age when a child needed the supervision of her parents.
Both Farooq and wife Halimahton are of the opinion that there are forces behind their daughter's disappearance who are intent on rubbishing their achievement and are also influencing Sufiah against her will.
Sufiah's being put in the care of foster parents is also of wider concern to the Muslim community here who are unhappy with the idea of taking away a Muslim child by a state authority to be put in the care of non Muslim foster parents without access being given to community representatives or her natural parents.
"There are people now - not just myself - who are keen to get into the real story of Sufiah Yusof and the circumstances of her disappearance. The reality is the complete opposite of what was presented on television," Farooq said.
