Woman found chained to tree in Maharashtra forest, claims '40 days without food'; cops recover US passport
The elderly woman, originally from the US, was found chained to a tree in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district. She was rescued after a local heard her cries and alerted the police.
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FollowA 50-year-old woman was found tied to a tree with an iron chain in a forest in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district. A photocopy of her US passport and other documents, including an Aadhaar card bearing an address in Tamil Nadu, were found on her person, a police officer said on Monday. According to the police, the woman, identified as Lalita Kayi Kumar S, lives in Tamil Nadu and is originally from the US. The woman was discovered by a shepherd in Sonurli village who heard her cries on Saturday evening and alerted the police. The man found the woman with her leg tied to a tree with a chain and informed the police.
“The woman was rushed to a hospital in Sawantwadi (in the state’s Konkan region) and then Oros in Sindhudurg. Given her mental and physical state, she was sent to Goa Medical College for further intensive care. She is not in danger. Her treating physicians have said that she has mental health issues. We discovered that she was in possession of prescription drugs," the official said.
"We discovered a photocopy of her US passport and her Aadhaar card with a Tamil Nadu address. It has been determined that she is Lalita Kayi. Her passport is no longer valid. We are confirming the authenticity of all these documents to determine her nationality. The Foreigners Regional Registration office and the police are in communication," he added.
The official said police teams have left for Tamil Nadu, Goa and some other places to trace her relatives etc as part of the probe.
Speaking to the media, a Maharashtra Police official said that no FIR has been registered in connection with the matter yet, but a probe has been launched. “The woman is not in a position to give her statement. The woman is weak as she has not eaten anything for a couple of days and also as the area experienced heavy rains. We don’t know for how long she was tied to that tree. We believe her husband, who hails from Tamil Nadu, tied her there and fled,” he said.
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