India, Oct. 31 -- A senior citizen witnessed the hostage crisis in Mumbai first hand after she was stranded in the Powai studio with her granddaughter who she had accompanied for the auditions on pretext of which some 17 children were held hostage by a man named Rohit Arya.

While police and fire brigade were working outside to evacuate the children safely, the old woman, identified as Mangala Patankar, reportedly played a key role in helping the rescue of the children held captive by 50-year-old Arya at Powai's RA Studio in Mahavir Classic, a commercial-cum-residential complex. She also sustained head injuries from glass shards and is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital.

From the hospital bed, Patankar narrated the hostage cris...