Nearly a month after they found a newborn in a nullah in Ambernath, covered with blood and freezing in the cold, Shivaji and Jayashree Ragade cried tears of joy when he finally opened his eyes for the first time last week. "Seeing the way he was fighting to live, we named him Tiger," said Jayashree. But, just as the miracle baby was starting to recover, his condition deteriorated two days ago. Now, doctors suspect he may have an infection in the brain, requiring urgent surgery.

Tiger had been dumped in a ditch in Ambernath barely hours after his birth on December 30. Around 5 pm, Shalini Gaikwad, a local resident of Wadol village in Ambernath West, heard a baby wailing, and followed the cries until she spotted a black garbage bag inside a nullah. When she went closer, she spotted movement inside the bag.