The elderly woman was spotted on Saturday morning over a garbage pile
- Yashoda Gaikwad, 60, was abandoned by her grandson in a garbage dump in Mumbai's Aarey Colony
- Her grandson was seen entering and exiting the hospital with the elderly woman in CCTV footage
- He initially claimed she had left the house on his own but later admitted he dumped her in garbage pile
Days after an elderly woman was abandoned in a garbage dump in Mumbai's Aarey Colony, the police have filed a case against three of her family members, including the woman's grandson.
Yashoda Gaikwad, 60, who has skin cancer and is suffering from mental health issues, told the police her grandson, Sagar Shewale, had abandoned her, but her grandson claimed she had left the house on her own. CCTV footage has now emerged, indicating that the grandson was lying.
The police said Ms Gaikwad had turned aggressive late Friday night and allegedly tried to strangle herself and attack her grandson. Late at night, Mr Shewale and his uncle, Babasaheb Gaikwad, tried to hospitalise her but couldn't. They reached a hospital with Ms Gaikwad in an ambulance, but they denied admission to her, citing service unavailability.
The uncle and nephew were seen entering and exiting the hospital with the elderly woman in CCTV footage. Discrepancies in their statements prompted the police to dig deeper, and they found that the grandson had been lying.
Mr Shewale initially claimed that her grandmother had left the house on their own, but later admitted to abandoning her. Immediately after returning home, around 3:30 am, they took her to the garbage dump on Dargah Road with the help of Sanjay Kudshim, a rickshaw driver, and dumped her there.
The two have been charged with endangering life by negligence under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (Section 125) and for abandonment of a senior under Section 24 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007.
They have not been arrested yet.
The elderly woman was spotted on Saturday morning, weak and injured, in the garbage pile. The police took her to Jogeshwari Trauma Care Hospital and then transferred her to the Cooper Hospital. She had an ulcerative skin growth, likely basal cell carcinoma, and her vitals were stable, said Dean Dr Sudhir Medhekar.
The case has sparked outrage across the state, prompting a suo motu review by the Maharashtra Human Rights Commission. The National Cancer Institute in Nagpur has also offered free treatment.
Ms Gaikwad remains under care at Cooper Hospital.
