Mumbai: A 60‑year‑old woman suffering from skin cancer and mental health issues was found abandoned in a garbage pile in Mumbai’s Aarey Colony last week. Neighbours called the police after spotting her lying among decaying waste.
The victim, identified as Yashoda Gaikwad, told investigators that she had been brought to Aarey Colony by her grandson, Sagar Shewale. The family initially claimed she had wandered off but CCTV footage from a hospital showed Shewale and his uncle, Babasaheb Gaikwad, transporting her there in an ambulance late Friday night.
Further surveillance revealed that after being denied admission at the hospital, around 3:30 am, the two relatives and a rickshaw driver named Sanjay Kudshim dumped Gaikwad near a garbage dump on Dargah Road. Faced with the evidence, the grandson admitted to abandoning her.
Police have registered a case under Section 125 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for endangering life by negligence and Section 24 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007. None of the accused have been arrested yet.
After her rescue, Gaikwad was taken first to Jogeshwari Trauma Care Hospital and subsequently to Cooper Hospital in Vile Parle. Medical staff report she has an ulcerative skin growth likely basal cell carcinoma; her vital signs are stable. The Maharashtra Human Rights Commission has initiated a suo motu review, and the National Cancer Institute in Nagpur has offered free treatment.
The case has sparked widespread outrage in Maharashtra, drawing attention to elder neglect and rights violations.
