The American woman who was found chained in an Indian jungle clung to life for forty days without food before a local shepherd found her and alerted authorities.
Lalita Kayi Kumar, a 50-year-old US citizen, was found with her passport and other identification documents, including an expired Indian passport. She was rushed to a local hospital for treatment.
The woman is believed to have lived in India for the past 10 years with her husband, identified as Satish in a police report. India today. He is believed to be the focus of the police investigation and was named in an official report on Tuesday.
Kumar, who is currently unable to speak due to her ordeal, wrote in part from her hospital bed: “My husband tied me to a tree in the forest.”
According to India Today, several people have already been questioned in connection with the case and the investigation has extended outside Sindhudburg district, where Kumar was found.
Lalita Kumar wrote in a letter from her hospital bed that she had been abandoned for 40 days.
“He is out of danger,” a police official told The Telegraph Online.
Kumar was found in a forest near Sonurli village, about 450 kilometres from Mumbai, on Saturday morning. She had been tied to a tree with an iron chain.
Her right leg was swollen from the chain. She was severely dehydrated, unable to speak and had probably not eaten in several days. The times of Lokmat reported.
Police have started a case of attempted murder against Satish. He also faces charges of endangering the life or personal safety of others and wrongful confinement.
A cattle herder found Kumar near Sawantwadi on Saturday morning after hearing loud noises coming from the dense forest.
Police arrived at the spot and used a cutter to break the chain and free the woman from the tree. She was rushed to a primary health centre in Sawantwadi, where she received initial treatment.
Kumar was later shifted to a more advanced facility for further treatment.
Footage from inside the hospital shows Kumar writing a note about her condition in which she claimed that her ex-husband had abandoned her in the forest following a domestic dispute. She also claimed that she had not eaten in over a month.
“He’s out of danger,” a police officer said. The Telegraph Online“The doctors who treated her said she suffered from psychiatric problems. We found medical prescriptions in her possession.”
The woman was found tied to a tree, emaciated, by a cattle herder. The woman said her husband left her there after a domestic dispute.
She was rushed to a local hospital where she was treated for several issues, including dehydration.
Initial reports indicate that authorities are investigating the possibility that the woman’s husband may have had something to do with the incident.
Authorities say Kumar is “doing well” but remains under observation and “suffering from psychiatric problems.” He is reportedly “weak” and “not in a condition to give a statement” to police at this time.
Kumar was born in the United States but had been living in Goa, a state neighbouring the one where she was found, for “some time”. Authorities are trying to determine who he and his wife have been in contact with over the past few months.
Kumar, who was married to a man from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the same area where Vice President Kamala Harris’s mother is from, is believed to have been living in India for at least a decade.
Authorities recovered a photocopy of his U.S. passport and national identification card at the scene. Authorities also said his “visa has expired.”