Woman who accused her husband of tying her to tree in India admits she did it herself
An American woman who was tied in the middle of a forest in India admitted that she chained herself to the tree, days after accusing her husband as the culprit.
Lalita Kayi Kumar, 50, was found by a local shepherd shackled to a tree in a forest near Sonuri Village, approximately 280 miles from Mumbai in India on July 27.
Hearing her cries in the forest, the shepherd immediately called the authorities for help.
After being taken to hospital to receive precautionary measures, Kumar then told the authorities that she was tied and left by her husband in the forest to die after a domestic dispute.
Initially unable to speak, she scribbled on a notepad that she had no food or water in the last 40 days and she had a locked jaw caused by an injection for severe psychosis.
In her first statement, the 50-year-old said that she came to India to learn yoga and meditation. She claimed to have been married to a man from Tamil Nadu. The Hindustan Times, citing local police, said that she is believed to have been living in India for 10 years.
Kumar, who is receiving medical attention in a psychiatric facility, told police that she was not married and was likely hallucinating when she gave her first statement.
According to BBC Marathi, the American revealed that she tied herself to a tree as she was stressed over her expiring visa. She was also reportedly running out of money.
Kumar is an American citizen from Massachusetts. In her possession were her passport, an expired visa with her home address in Tamil Nadu, a mobile phone, a tablet, and 31,000 rupees (~P21,000).
Dr. Sanghamitra Phule, the superintendent of the psychiatric hospital, told the BBC that Kumar's state has improved.
Her family in the US has also been contacted.