An attempted murder case has been filed by the police against the ex-husband of a 50-year-old American woman who was discovered tied to a tree with an iron chain in a Sindhudurg forest in Maharashtra.
Police informed the woman who is now in the hospital, wrote a note identifying her former spouse as the accused for this situation.
The woman has claimed in her note that her former husband tied her with an iron chain in the forest at Sonurli village in the coastal Sindhudurg district and left the place.
How was the woman found?
A shepherd heard the woman's cries and found her tied up and in distress on Saturday when he called the police.
The police found her Aadhaar card, showing an address in Tamil Nadu and a photocopy of her U.S. passport.
The woman was then identified as Lalita Kayi. The police said her visa has expired, and she has been in India for the past 10 years.
Woman's medical condition
The woman was shifted to a hospital in neighbouring Goa for treatment and doctors treating her said she suffers from psychiatric problems.
The police have also found medical prescriptions in her possession.
The prescriptions revealed that she was undergoing treatment for a psychiatric illness.
Meanwhile an official said that the police also suspect that she was suffering from schizophrenia.
Saurabh Agrawal, Superintendent of Police of Sindhudurg district, told PTI, "Based on the note written by the woman at the hospital, a case has been registered against her former husband on charges of attempted murder, act endangering life or personal safety of others and wrongful confinement under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)."
The woman's statement is yet to be officially recorded, but after the registration of the case, the police teams have launched a probe, he said.
"Police are also trying to verify if the woman's claim that she was chained by her former husband was genuine. We are verifying every claim and information in the note written by her," he added.
Police teams are currently in Tamil Nadu and Goa to trace her husband and other relatives, he said.
