In a dramatic turn of events, the US woman, who was found chained to a tree in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district, has now told the police that she tied herself and that no one was involved in doing so.
The woman's mental health condition has been cited by officials as the reason behind this act of self-harm.
The woman was seemingly in a feeble condition when a shepherd found her after following which the sound of her cries in the forest near Sonurli village on July 27.
The shepherd had alerted, prompting the launch of an investigation into the matter along with a massive public outrage.
The woman -- Lalita Kayi -- was rescued and taken to a hospital for treatment.
Initially, due to her mental health and weak physical health, police had not been able to take her statement.
However, on August 3, the woman's statement was recorded and that is when she told the police that she brought three iron chains and locks, one pair of which she used to tie herself to a tree in the forest.
Notably, during investigation, police had recovered a pair of keys a few meters away from where Kayi was found. These keys were used to lock the chains the 50-year-woman was tied with.
Officials, however, said that it was unclear as to for how many days she had been tied there.
The American woman also told the police that she does not have a husband. During the probe, police also found that Kayi's mother resides in the US. But no one from her family has yet made any contact.
Meanwhile, the police officer said that the woman is undergoing treatment at the psychiatric department of the Regional Mental Hospital in Ratnagiri, news agency PTI reported.
The woman at times experiences hallucinations and one such moment, she might have said that her former husband chained her to the tree, the official said.
Police came to know that her "ex-husband" tied her to the tree after they found a note in the woman's bag.
Based on the note, police registered an attempt to murder case against the unnamed ex-husband and launched a hunt for him.
Apart from this, police had also found a photocopy of the woman's US passport, her Aadhar card with a Tamil Nadu address and a copy of her expired visa.
