Police have registered a case of attempted murder against the former husband of an American woman who was found chained to a tree in a forest in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district. She was found by a shepherd in Sonurli village, some 450 kilometres from the state capital Mumbai, on Saturday, after which he alerted the police.
Saurabh Agrawal, Superintendent of Police of Sindhudurg district, told PTI that the FIR also invokes Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections pertaining to acts endangering life or personal safety of others and wrongful confinement. The case is based on a note written by the woman at the hospital, where she claimed that she had been tied in the forest with an iron chain by her former husband.
Agrawal said the police are trying to verify if her claims are “genuine”. “We are verifying every claim and information in the note written by her," Agarwal was quoted as saying by PTI.
Woman Hadn't Eaten In Days
The woman has been identified as 50-year-old Lalita Kayi Kumar S, who lives in Tamil Nadu and originally belongs to the US. The police have found her Aadhaar card with a Tamil Nadu address and a photocopy of her US passport. Police said she had been in India for 10 years and her visa was expired.
The police said she was too weak to be able to record a proper statement and had not eaten "for a couple of days". According to the police, she is not in a position to give a statement. “She is weak as she has not eaten anything for a couple of days and also as the area experienced heavy rains. She reportedly left her husband after a quarrel with him,” an official was quoted as saying.
The doctors treating her have reportedly told the police that she suffers from psychiatric issues. Police also said they had found medical prescriptions on her person.