American woman found chained to tree in India forest had tied herself, police say

Lalita Kayi Kumar initially claimed she was ‘left to die’ in forest by her husband

Screenshot of Lalita Kayi Kumar, 50, who was found tied to a tree in an Indian forest (India Today)

An American woman who was found chained to a tree in a forest in western India has now admitted that she shackled herself, just days after blaming her “husband” for her ordeal.

Lalita Kayi Kumar, 50, was discovered by a cowherd on 27 July in a dense forest in Sindhudurg, about 450km from India’s financial capital of Mumbai.

She was found tied up and emaciated after the cowherd heard “a woman screaming loudly” and raised an alarm. She was “screaming like an animal”, he reported.

Ms Kayi told the police she had not had any food or water for several days. She was so feeble she could not speak and used a notepad to scribble what she wanted to say.

After being admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Goa, the woman allegedly wrote in a statement to the police that she had been chained in the forest by her husband and left to “die without food or water”.

“Injection for extreme psychosis which causes severe locked jaw and inability to drink any water. Need intravenous food, 40 days without food in forest,” she wrote, according to The Indian Express.

“Husband tied me to a tree in a forest and said I would die there.”

Ms Kayi has now said she was unmarried and that she tied herself up, police and doctors told the BBC.

Lalita Kayi Kumar, 50, was found tied to tree in a forest in western India (India Today)

Sindhudurg police superintendent Saurabh Agarwal claimed the woman was suffering from severe psychosis and hallucinating when she first gave her statement.

Ms Kayi reportedly told investigators she bought the chains and locks and tied herself to the tree because she had no money and was stressed that her visa had run out.

Her condition is improving, Dr Sanghamitra Phule, superintendent of the psychiatric hospital, said. "She eats, walks and also exercises. She’s under treatment and we are also giving her some nutrients that her body was lacking,” she told the BBC.

Dr Phule said Ms Kayi’s family had been traced in the US and she was in touch with them.

After Ms Kayi was rescued, police found a copy of a passport in her bag which showed that she was a US citizen from Massachusetts.

They also found papers linking her to an address in India’s southern Tamil Nadu state as well as a mobile phone, a tablet, and Rs31,000 (£290).

Police do not yet know how long she was tied up in the forest. “The area where she was found had experienced heavy rain,” Mr Agrawal said.

Police official Amol Chavan, who was with the team that rescued her, said it appeared she was there for two days at least.

“When we discovered her, she was seriously dehydrated. It appears that she was stuck there for a minimum of 48 hours. Although she was mute,” he said.

Ms Kayi initially told police she had come to India to learn yoga and meditation. She was married to a man from Tamil Nadu but they had fallen out, she claimed.

Police in Maharashtra then registered a case of attempt to murder case against Ms Kayi’s supposed “husband”.

She is believed to have been living in the country for 10 years, the Hindustan Times reported citing local police.