BALASORE, Jan. 26 -- An infection on his leg seems to impede his gait as he struggles to walk at the age of 74 but the misery of being abandoned by his closed ones in the dusk of his life is more heart-rending for him than the physical wound.

Shyama Mallick, a resident of Mulakada village under Soro Police limits of Balasore, narrated the ordeal he went through after being rescued by a good samaritan at Balasore bus stand.

"My sons used to thrash me and threaten to hack me to death," alleged the septuagenarian who left his home and came to the city via bus after being unable to face alleged physical harassment by his sons any more.

Mallick was spotted by a hotel owner Sahdev Behera who fed him and later made arrangements to put him in an...