Fed up of the relentless ill-treatment he and his mentally challenged three-and-a-half year old daughter were allegedly subjected to at the hands of his aged parents, a mentally unstable man flung his tot from the second floor of their home in Dombivli (East). And then, to ensure that neither would face another day of suffering, he went and sat on the railway tracks with her bleeding, barely living body, waiting for the approaching train to put an end to their miserable lives.u00a0Fortunately for the child, a neighbour spotted the two and rescued them in the nick of time, even as the train approached father and child.

Hope floats: The toddler is now in the custody of social worker Dilip Bhanushali and his wife, who are in search of a suitable new home for her, as her family has given her up for adoption. Pic/Datta Kumbhar