Daijiworld Media Network – Mumbai

Mumbai, Jun 23: In a heart-wrenching incident that has sparked outrage, an elderly cancer-stricken woman was found abandoned amid heaps of garbage in Mumbai's Aarey Colony early Saturday morning.

Acting on a tip-off, police arrived at the scene to find the woman—frail and visibly ill—lying in a pink nightdress surrounded by rotting trash and plastic waste. A festering wound had disfigured her face, suspected to be caused by advanced-stage skin cancer.

Identifying herself as Yashoda Gaikwad from Malad, the woman alleged that her own grandson had abandoned her at the desolate location.

Mumbai Police rushed her to Jogeshwari Trauma Centre and later to Cooper Hospital. However, both initially refused admission, citing lack of facilities. It was only after nearly eight hours of persistent efforts by police that Cooper Hospital admitted her around 5:30 pm.

Attempts to verify her identity by visiting addresses in Malad and Kandivli yielded no concrete results. Her photos have been circulated across police stations, and nearby CCTV footage is being scanned to track her grandson.

Police said an investigation is ongoing into the shocking act of abandonment, which has stirred public anger and drawn attention to elder neglect in urban India.