text: Lakhan Kale's grandmother tied him to a bus stop so she didn't lose him, when she worked. (Getty Images) 
   
   A photograph of a 9-year old Indian boy tethered to a bus stop in Mumbai has drawn outrage from Indians about the lack of resources for the disabled, according to Getty Images. 
   
   Lakhan Kale cannot hear or speak and has cerebral palsy and epilepsy. His grandmother cared for him and when she worked selling toys and flower garlands on the roadside, she tethered the child to a local bus stop, according to Getty. At night Kale's grandmother tied his leg to hers, so she would know if he ran off. 
   
   Pictures of the boy lying listlessly on the ground were printed in the local newspapers this week and drew outrage from readers. After the photos were published, local authorities intervened, according to the Times of India. 
   
   The boy has since been taken to a children's shelter. ||||| MUMBAI: Clad in a shirt and shorts, Lakhan Kale eats biscuits off his grandmother's shrivelled hands, lies on a bench and stares sleepily at the brown, sloping roof. It is perhaps for the first time that his ceiling isn't the sky or bus stop number five. 
   
   
   
   Nine-year-old Lakhan is a pavement dweller who suffers from cerebral palsy and seizure disorder. His father died four years ago; a few months later his mother went missing. As a routine, Kale's grandmother, Sakkubai Kale (66) and his sister, Rekha (12), used to tie him to a pole at the bus stop near Mantralaya before going to work for fear of him wandering off or being run over. "I tried to admit him in a few shelters but they refused to entertain me," Sakkubai said. 
   
   
   
   Two days ago, a daily printed a picture of Lakhan with his leg tethered, after which a team from Marine Drive police station brought in Lakhan's family for questioning and, later, took them to meet social worker Meena Mutha. On Wednesday, with the help of Mutha, police sub-inspector SG Phanse and sub-inspector Santosh Tore were able to admit Lakhan to The Children's Aid Society, a shelter for destitute, orphaned and victimised kids in Dongri. 
   
   
   
   An NOC from Sakkubai, Lakhan's medical reports and a letter from Mutha's Manav Foundation, which works towards rehabilitating those mentally-ill, helped secure the admission. "At least, we can now rest assured that he is in good hands," says Mutha, who had been trying to find a shelter for Lakhan since Tuesday. "The shelter will also take care of Lakhan's treatments," said Mutha as her car pulled out of the shelter. A teary-eyed Sakkubai, her hands folded, asked if she would be able to meet her grandson often. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   ||||| Disabled Indian boy, 9, tied by his leg to bus stop on scorching summer's day so his grandmother can go to work 
   
   Lakhan Kale, of Mumbai, cannot hear or speak and has cerebral palsy 
   
   Grandmother Sakhubai Kale raised Lakhan on the street near bus stop 
   
   His father died several years ago and mother walked out on the family 
   
   Concern among charities and police have now seen him taken into care 
   
   But activists say his plight on the streets comes as little surprise in India 
   
   The nine-year-old boy dressed in blue lay listlessly on the pavement in the scorching Mumbai summer afternoon, his ankle tethered with rope to a bus stop, unheeded by pedestrians strolling past. 
   
   Lakhan Kale cannot hear or speak and suffers from cerebral palsy and epilepsy, so his grandmother and carer tied him up to keep him safe while she went to work, selling toys and flower garlands on the city's roadsides. 
   
   ‘What else can I do? He can't talk, so how will he tell anyone if he gets lost?’ said homeless Sakhubai Kale, 66, who raised Lakhan on the street by the bus stop shaded by the hanging roots of a banyan tree. 
   
   Left alone: Nine-year-old Indian boy Lakhan Kale is tied with a cloth rope around his ankle, to a bus-stop pole in Mumbai. He cannot hear or speak and suffers from cerebral palsy and epilepsy 
   
   Tied up: A photograph of him tied up appeared in a local newspaper this week, sparking concerns among charities and the police, and he has since been taken into care at a government-run institution On the street: The boy's ankle is tethered with rope to a bus stop, unheeded by pedestrians strolling past 
   
   Lakhan's father died several years ago and his mother walked out on the family, his grandmother said. 
   
   A photograph of him tied up appeared in a local newspaper last week, sparking concerns among charities and the police, and he has since been taken into care at a government-run institution. 
   
   But activists say his plight on the streets comes as little surprise in India, where those with disabilities face daily stigma and discrimination and a lack of facilities to assist them. 
   
   Ms Kale said Lakhan ‘tends to wander off’ and that there was no one else to stop him walking into traffic while she and her 12-year-old granddaughter, Rekha, were out making a living. 
   
   At night she would tie him to her own leg as they slept on the pavement so she would know if he tried to walk away. 
   
   Homeless: Lakhan's grandmother and carer Sakhubai Kale, 66, tied him up to keep him safe while she went to work, selling toys and flower garlands on the city's roadside 
   
   Family: Lakhan's father died several years ago and his mother walked out on the family, his grandmother said 
   
   ‘I am a single old woman. Nobody paid attention to me until the newspaper report,’ she said. ‘He was in a special school, but they sent him back.’ 
   
   Social worker Meena Mutha has since managed to place Lakhan in a state-run south Mumbai home, which takes in a range of needy children from the disabled to the destitute. 
   
   'What else can I do? He can't talk, so how will he tell anyone if he gets lost?' Sakhubai Kale, grandmother 
   
   ‘Residental homes are very, very few. There's a major need for the government to do something, a social responsibility to provide residential centres for children like Lakhan,’ said Ms Mutha, a trustee at the Manav Foundation helping people with mental illness. 
   
   She said government-run centres that put together children with different needs did not always have the range of facilities required. 
   
   ‘They don't have the infrastructure, the staff,’ said Ms Mutha. Conversely, non-government organisations ‘have expertise, but not the space,’ she said, highlighting the squeeze on land in the densely-packed city. 
   
   No surprise in India: Activists say his plight on the streets comes as little shock in the country, where those with disabilities face daily stigma and discrimination and a lack of facilities to assist them No longer on the streets: Lakhan has now been placed in a state-run south Mumbai home, which takes in a range of needy children from the disabled to the destitute 
   
   Across India, the 40 to 60 million people with disabilities often face similar struggles to get the help they need, activists say. 
   
   'There's a major need for the government to do something, a social responsibility to provide residential centres for children like Lakhan' Meena Mutha, social worker 
   
   ‘There's no collective responsibility. You have a disabled child, you look after it,’ said Varsha Hooja, chief executive at Adapt, another charity working with disabled young adults and children. 
   
   Ms Hooja said she had seen other cases of parents locking up children with disabilities while they go to work. ‘The state gives no support,’ she said. 
   
   A long-awaited bill was introduced into the Indian parliament in February aiming to give disabled people equal rights - including access to education, employment and legal redress against discrimination - but it has yet to be passed. 
   
   Lawyer Rajive Raturi was on the committee that began drafting the bill five years ago, and said the Congress party-led government which has just lost power had pushed through a ‘complete dilution’ of the original, especially on sections regarding women and children with disabilities. 
   
   Widespread problem: Across India, the 40 to 60 million people with disabilities often face similar struggles to get the help they need, activists say 
   
   Progress? A long-awaited bill was introduced into the Indian parliament in February aiming to give disabled people equal rights - but it has yet to be passed 
   
   Mr Raturi, who handles disability cases at the Human Rights Law Network, said he hoped the new parliament elected this month, dominated by incoming prime minister Narendra Modi's right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, would ‘listen to the stakeholders and then make a decision’. 
   
   'There's no collective responsibility. You have a disabled child, you look after it' Varsha Hooja, Adapt chief executive 
   
   ‘We can't change attitudes with an act but if the bill has the right provisions, people will think twice,’ he said. 
   
   Back by the Mumbai bus stop, Ms Kale squatted on the pavement drinking chai and eating bread on the morning after bidding a tearful goodbye to her grandson. 
   
   She was hopeful she would get to see him regularly once she acquired an official identity card that would allow her to visit the centre.
target: – Lakhan Kale's grandmother would tie him to something on the street before each work day and walk away. That's because 9-year-old Lakhan has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, and no one else in Mumbai, India, would care for him, ABC News reports. Cringing? You're not alone: News photos of Lakhan tied to a bus stop drew enough outrage in India that a state-run home took the boy in, and activists found a rallying cry for the nation's 40 to 60 million disabled, reports the Daily Mail (which also has photos of Lakhan). "There's no collective responsibility," said the head of a charity for the disabled. "You have a disabled child, you look after it." A social worker for the mentally ill said Mumbai lacks facilities, and those that exist are low on staffing or short on space in the densely-packed city. An equal-rights bill for the disabled reached the Indian parliament in February, but a lawyer who helped draft it five years ago said it's been diluted. At least Lakhan's grandmother now has peace of mind: "The shelter will also take care of Lakhan's treatments," she told the Times of India, before tearfully asking staffers how often she could visit her grandson.