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THE AMERICAN woman who was found chained to a tree in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra had come to India a decade ago to learn yoga and meditation, police said on Tuesday. As per senior officers, it was while she was learning yoga in Tamil Nadu that she met a man, got married to him and settled down there.
The duo however had a fall out and over the past few months, the woman identified as Lalita Kayi was residing in Goa, which is around 30 kms from the forest where she was found.
On Tuesday, Sindhudurg police in Maharashtra said an attempt to murder case was registered against Kayi’s former husband. The case was lodged based on a note found in the woman’s bag in which she had written “my former husband”.
After the police team rescued her, on a piece of paper she wrote, “Injection for extreme psychosis which causes severe locked jaw and inability to drink any water. Need intravenous food… 40 days without food in forest – husband tied me to a tree in a forest and said I would die there,” the note read. The police in Banda however said it appeared unlikely that the woman would have survived chained to a tree in the forest for 40 days.
Saurabh Agarwal, Superintendent of Police, Sindhudurg, said, “We have suo motu registered a First Information Report (FIR) in the matter. She is currently not in a position to talk. We are trying to get more details about her background.”
The police said that while she was out of danger, they were informed by doctors that she might be suffering from psychiatric problems. The police also found a medical prescription on her.
Teams from Sindhudurg police fanned out in Goa and Tamil Nadu to get more details about her. The police also contacted the US embassy as they had recovered a photocopy of a US passport from her in addition to an Aadhar card in her name with a Tamil Nadu address
The woman, Lalita Kayi, was found on July 27 in Sonurli village in Sawantwadi, over 450 km away from Mumbai, after a shepherd heard her cries for help. He alerted the police, who broke the chain tied to her leg and rescued her.
The woman, prima facie, appears to be suffering from schizophrenia and is currently admitted to a Goa hospital.
The woman was initially taken to a Sawantwadi hospital from where she was moved to another local hospital. However, in light of her deteriorating physical and mental condition, she was moved to Goa Medical College for advanced treatment.
The police said her visa had expired, adding that she had been in India for 10 years.
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