Mumbai: Railways comes to rescue of 70-year-old woman thrown out by son

Officials drive Leelavati Dubey to Mumbai Central, from where she will board a train to Delhi today after they provided her with a meal at Bandra Terminus

A 70-year-old woman, abandoned by her elder son, took shelter under a tree at the Bandra Terminus last week hoping to return to her home in Delhi once the trains resume, got the much-needed help from the railway officials, who not only arranged for her travel but provided food and shelter till her journey started.

Leelavati Dubey, a resident of Delhi, has been living with her younger son and her grandchildren since her husband's death in December. She came to Mumbai four months back to be with her son when he fell sick.

She alleged that after the elder son got better, he refused to look after her, even beat her up and asked her to go away. She waited several days for transportation to resume, however, when she could not bear the ill-treatment anymore, she decided to wait at the station.

"I decided to wait as long as it was needed. I have nowhere else to go. Even back in Delhi, they do not look after me; they call me mad, but at least I will be back to my own city," she said. She spent over 24 hours under the tree at the station, before a group of railway officials at Bandra Terminus noticed her and offered her help after hearing her ordeal.

They brought her inside the terminus, made arrangement for her stay at the waiting room and gave her food. Together, the staff members at the station contributed R7,600 to help send her home.

"Western Railway booked her a 3AC ticket on Special Rajdhani Express to New Delhi. Today, she was driven in a railways to Mumbai Central station, from where she will board the train on Monday morning," an official told mid-day on Sunday.

Officials said they have spoken to the staff at Delhi division for arrangement of a car to drop her home. She will be accompanied by RPF personnel who will convince her family to take her in, they added.

Western Railway chief public relations officer Ravinder Bhakar said this was a collective team effort of WR and they acted purely on humanitarian grounds.

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