Police have filed a case of attempted murder against the former husband of a 50-year-old American woman who was discovered chained to a tree in a forest in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district. The case was registered following a note written by the woman while receiving treatment at a hospital.
The woman, identified as Lalita Kayi, claimed in the note that her former husband had tied her with an iron chain in Sonurli village, located approximately 450 kilometers from Mumbai, and abandoned her there. A shepherd who heard her cries on Saturday evening alerted the police upon finding her in distress.
The police recovered an Aadhaar card with a Tamil Nadu address and a photocopy of her United States passport from the scene. Lalita Kayi’s visa had expired, and she has reportedly been in India for the past ten years.
According to Saurabh Agrawal, Superintendent of Police in Sindhudurg, “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 life or personal safety of others, and wrongful confinement under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).” Agrawal added that while the woman’s statement is yet to be officially recorded, the registration of the case has prompted a detailed investigation.
The woman’s medical condition has also been noted; doctors in Goa, where she was transferred for treatment, reported that she suffers from psychiatric issues. The police have found medical prescriptions suggesting she was undergoing treatment for a psychiatric illness, and there are suspicions that she may be suffering from schizophrenia.
Police teams are currently working in Tamil Nadu and Goa to locate her former husband and other relatives. “Police are also trying to verify if the woman’s claim that she was chained by her former husband was genuine. We are verifying every claim and piece of information in the note written by her,” Agrawal said.
