Woman found chained to tree in Maharashtra forest; cops recover US passport photocopy

Mumbai, July 29

A 50-year-old woman was found tied to a tree with an iron chain in a forest in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district, and a photocopy of her US passport as well as other documents, including an Aadhaar card with a Tamil Nadu address, were recovered from her, a police official said on Monday.

A shepherd heard her cries on Saturday evening in Sonurli village, some 450 kilometres from here, and alerted police after finding her chained and in distress, the official said.

“The woman was rushed to a hospital in Sawantwadi (in the state’s Konkan region) and then Oros in Sindhudurg. Considering her mental and health condition, she was shifted to Goa Medical College for advanced treatment. She is out of danger. Doctors treating her said she suffers from psychiatric problems. We have found medical prescriptions in her possession,” the official informed.

“We found her Aadhaar card with a Tamil Nadu address and a photocopy of her United States of America passport. She has been identified as Lalita Kayi. Her visa has expired. We are getting all these documents verified to ascertain her nationality. Police is also in touch with the Foreigners Regional Registration office,” he said.

As per initial information obtained by police, the woman has been in India for the past 10 years, the official said.

“The woman is not in a position to give her statement. The woman is weak as she has not eaten anything for a couple of days and also as the area experienced heavy rains. We don’t know for how long she was tied to that tree. We believe her husband, who hails from Tamil Nadu, tied her there and fled,” he said.

The official said police teams have left for Tamil Nadu, Goa and some other places to trace her relatives as part of the probe.