Elderly woman dumped on Ayodhya road at night, dies

AYODHYA: Two unidentified women and a man abandoned an ailing elderly woman, aged around 80 and wrapped in bedsheets, by an Ayodhya roadside in the dead of night Thursday before cops rescued her and shifted her to hospital where she died hours later.

The bone-numbing cruelty, caught on CCTV, has triggered a hunt for the culprits and outrage in the UP temple town synonymous with divinity and kindness as the birthplace of Lord Ram.

CCTV images show an e-rickshaw arriving at the spot in Kishundaspur locality of Kotwali police station area and the three leaving the frail woman before vanishing into the darkness. The dusky woman with a lean frame was wearing a red and green dress with a white cloth tied around her neck.

Police are trying to identify the vehicle and have issued an appeal to the public for assistance in identifying the woman.

Additional SP Chakrapani Tripathi said an emergency call was received around 9.30am Thursday about the unconscious woman lying by the roadside. Cops rushed there and shifted her to Ayodhya Medical College but she died during treatment Thursday evening. Her body has been preserved at the hospital for autopsy.

"We are investigating what circumstances led to the woman being abandoned. Why was she left alone in the dead of night? Who are her family members and why did they take such a step? Efforts are underway to trace them and determine the identity of the deceased. Strict action will be taken against the culprits once identification is confirmed and postmortem is completed," said Tripathi.