A 33-year-old man and two others have been arrested in Mumbai for allegedly dumping his grandmother, a cancer patient, in a forested area near Aarey Colony in the city, police said.
The woman, around 70 years old, was found near a garbage dump in a distressed state on the morning of June 22, and was admitted to the hospital by police. Her grandson Sagar Shevale (33), brother-in-law Babasaheb Gaikwad (70) and autorickshaw driver Sanjay Kadresham (27) were purportedly seen in CCTV footage leaving her at the spot where she was found, a police official said on Thursday.
Her grandson had claimed that she left the house on her own and that he did not abandon her. “I did not abandon my grandmother. She often leaves the house when I go to the office in the morning and returns later,” said the grandson, Sagar Shewale.
Her grandson insisted that he takes care of his maternal grandmother and rejected reports that termed reports that he dumped her near a garbage site as wrong. “I got a call from Aarey Colony Police. When I reached there, I was told she was admitted to Cooper Hospital.”
The trio were arrested on Wednesday under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section 125 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) and the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, the official said. CCTV footage showed that the accused first took the woman, a resident of suburban Borivali, to the civic-run Shatabdi Hospital on the night of June 21, but when the hospital authorities refused to admit her, they took her to the Aarey forest and left her there.
The woman is now being treated at the civic-run Cooper hospital in the city’s Juhu area, the official added. PTI