US Woman Found Chained To Tree In Maha Forest; Claims She Tied Herself

A 50-year-old woman was found tied to a tree with an iron chain in a forest in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district, a senior police official reported on July 30. There was also a photocopy of her US passport as well as other documents, including an Aadhaar card with a Tamil Nadu address, that was recovered from her. On July 27, a shepherd in Sonurli village, about 450km from Mumbai, found the woman, identified as Lalita Kayi, and alerted police. While the police filed a case of attempted murder against her former husband, she claimed on August 3 that she had tied herself up and no one else was involved.

According to reports, Kayi told the police that she experienced hallucinations and this was not the first time she had done this. Police cited this case as an attempt to 'self-harm' and took her to the regional mental hospital in Ratnagiri, where she is undergoing treatment in the psychiatric department.

Survivor Claims No One Else Was Involved

In a statement to the police, Lalita Kayi said on August 3 that she had chained herself to the tree and no one else was involved. She claimed that she was experiencing hallucinations when she said her former husband had tied her up. Kayi had earlier written in a note that her 'former husband' had left her to die after giving her an injection that caused psychosis and a locked jaw. 

“Based on the note written by the woman at the hospital, a case has been registered against her former husband on charges of attempted murder, act endangering the life or personal safety of others, and wrongful confinement under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS),” Saurabh Agrawal, Superintendent of Police of Sindhudurg district, said, according to a Press Trust of India report.

After rescuing her, the police administered first aid and admitted her to a primary healthcare centre in Sindhudurg's Sawantwadi taluka. She was later referred to a more advanced medical facility in Sindhudurg's Oros after the primary treatment was taken care of. Kayi is now getting treated for her mental health in Ratnagiri.

The doctors treating her said that the woman seemed to be suffering from psychiatric problems and communicated with them by writing about her health problems on a piece of paper. She has ended up in a terrible state physically and mentally due to the past circumstances that have unfolded with her. A video from inside the hospital showed the woman writing about her condition, highlighting that she was without food for 40 days. In her written message, she explicitly claimed that her husband had tied her in the forest after a quarrel.

Speaking to the media, a Maharashtra Police official said that no FIR has been registered in connection with the matter yet, but a probe had been launched."The woman is not yet in a position to give her statement. The woman is weak as she has not eaten anything for a couple of days and also as the area experienced heavy rains. We don't know for how long she was tied to that tree. She reportedly left her husband after a quarrel," the official said.

However, the investigative police teams are currently in Tamil Nadu and Goa searching for her husband and other relatives. An unnamed police officer told The Indian Express, "The woman was going to Goa from Mumbai. Since there is a single track, the train halts a couple of times before entering Goa. That spot is close to this forest. We suspect she got off when the train halted."