US woman Lalita Kayi found chained to tree in Indian forest, prompting murder investigation

The case of a US woman who was discovered chained to a tree in a rural part of the western Indian state of Maharashtra is puzzling investigators.

Lalita Kayi, 50, was found last week in the state’s Sindhudurg district after her screams were heard by a local, according to Indian media reports. A cow herder who found Kayi told BBC Marathi that he had heard screams “coming from the forest on the side of the mountain” as he took his cattle to graze.

“When I went there, I saw that one of her legs was tied to a tree. She was screaming like an animal. I called other villagers and the local police,” he said.

Police said the 50-year-old was found with a copy of her passport, an Indian ID card, a cellphone, a tablet and 31,000 rupees (about US$370), per the BBC. The Indian Express reported that she also had a medical prescription with her.

She appeared emaciated and was reportedly taken to hospital and then on to a psychiatric facility to recover. Doctors said Kayi seemed to be experiencing a mental health condition.

Unnamed sources told India Today that after her rescue, Kayi provided police with a written statement in which she alleged that her husband had chained her to the tree and left her without food or water.

“Injection for extreme psychosis which caused a severely locked jaw and inability to drink any water. Need intravenous food. 40 days without food and water. Husband tied me to a tree in the forest and said I would die there,” she wrote on a pad. Police said it was unlikely she would have survived for so long, however.

Sindhudurg police have since registered a case of attempted murder against Kayi’s husband.

Details about Kayi’s life are scant, and it remains unclear exactly how she ended up in the forest.

Police believe Kayi