A 50-year-old American woman, who was found tied to a tree with an iron chain in a forest in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district, had visited Mumbai in June but the motive behind it is still unclear, police said on Wednesday.
Police are also looking for clues through three pairs of locks and keys found at the spot, an official said.
The Sindhudurg police have got some information about the woman, Lalita Kayi, including the region in the US from where she hails. Teams are verifying the information and police will arrive at some conclusion once it is done. Police have “very strong clues” about her, he said.
Citing their investigation, the official said the woman had come to Tamil Nadu 10 years ago to learn yoga and medication. There, she married an Indian man, stayed with him for several years and also got an Aadhaar card, the official said.
After a fallout with her husband, Kayi stayed in Goa for some time and also visited Mumbai in June, he said.
The motive behind her Mumbai visit is being verified. It is still unclear whom she met in Mumbai and for how long she stayed in the country’s financial capital, the official said.
A shepherd on July 27 found Kayi chained to a tree after he heard her cries in a forest at Sonurli village in the coastal Sindhudurg district, around 450 km from here.
He alerted the police who found her Aadhaar card with a Tamil Nadu address and a photocopy of her American passport on her. Her visa had expired, police had said earlier. The woman was shifted to a hospital in neighbouring Goa for treatment.
The Sindhudurg police had recovered a note from her in which she said that she had not eaten anything for the last 25 days, an official said.
“The police have not recorded Lalita Kayi’s statement yet. The verification of the information, including which US region she belongs to, our teams have received so far is going on,” said Saurabh Kumar Agrawal, Superintendent of Police (SP), Sindhudurg.
“It is yet to be ascertained for how long she was tied with the iron chain to the tree, but the note, which police recovered, mentions that she had not consumed anything for the last 25 days,” he said.
SP Agrawal said the chain had a lock and a pair of keys was found 8-9 metres from the tree. The keys are rusted due to heavy rains and mud and police are trying to find out if they are of the lock on the chain.
Two similar pairs of locks and keys were also found in the woman’s bag, Agrawal said, adding that the investigation by the Sindudurg police is moving in the right direction and they have “strong clues related to the woman”.
The Sindhudurg police have registered an attempt-to-murder case against her former husband for tying her to a tree with an iron chain in the forest.
The case is based on the information mentioned in the note, which police recovered from her possession, he said, adding that the probe is underway.
It is suspected that Kayi suffers from schizophrenia, police had said earlier, adding that teams were sent to Tamil Nadu and Goa to trace her ex-husband and other relatives.
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