Lalita Kumar claims her ex-husband shackled her to a tree in the Indian jungle after an argument.
Sawantwadi Rescue TeamLalita Kayi Kumar following her rescue from the Indian jungle.
Imagine taking a casual stroll in the jungle and stumbling upon someone chained to a tree. No, this isn’t a plot from a suspense thriller but reality for Lalita Kayi Kumar, a 50-year-old American woman who found herself in such a predicament.
On July 27, 2024, a shepherd in the Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra, India, found Kumar emaciated and chained to a tree. Authorities identified her as an American who had moved to India over a decade ago to immerse herself in yoga and meditation. She claimed that her former husband had left her to die in the jungle 40 days earlier after a heated argument. Now, he’s facing serious charges, including attempted murder.
A Shepherd Discovers A Woman Chained To A Tree
Are you ready for an almost unbelievable rescue story? A shepherd in Goa, India, played hero by unchaining Kumar after hearing her desperate cries for help. Barely able to move, she had been without food for days. The first responders found her passport along with other documents confirming her identity. Kumar had initially traveled to Tamil Nadu in southern India in her quest for spiritual enlightenment, a journey that led her to meet and marry Satish, the man now accused of this horrifying act.
Sawantwadi Rescue Team Lalita Kayi Kumar claimed she had been chained to a tree for 40 days.
When the rescuers got to her, Kumar was in terrible shape. Severely dehydrated and malnourished, she was too weak to speak. Her right leg was alarmingly swollen from the iron chains that had bound her.
Amol Chavan, an inspector at Sawantwadi Police Station, revealed, “When we discovered her, she was seriously dehydrated. It appears that she was stuck there for a minimum of 48 hours. Although she was mute.”
When medical staff finally got her to the hospital, Kumar was handed a pen and paper, which proved to be her lifeline. She wrote out her harrowing experience, shedding light on the unimaginable cruelty she had endured.
What Happened To Lalita Kayi Kumar?
Let’s dig into the scary details. Kumar’s note revealed that her ex-husband had tied her to the tree following a domestic dispute. In her words: “Injection for extreme psychosis which causes severe locked jaw and inability to drink any water. Need intravenous food… 40 days without food in forest — husband tied me to a tree in a forest and said I would die there.”
This shocking note spurred Indian authorities to arrest and charge her former husband with attempted murder, endangering the life or personal safety of others, and wrongful confinement.
Sindhudurg District Hospital Lalita Kumar couldn’t speak, but she described her ordeal in a note that read, “Husband tied me to a tree in a forest and said I would die there.”
While Kumar claimed to have been tied up for 40 days, officials find this hard to believe due to her extreme condition. Communicating with her remains challenging, as she isn’t able to speak. “She is currently not in a position to talk,” Saurabh Agarwal from the Sindhudurg Police told The Indian Express. “We are trying to get more details about her background.”
Now, as the authorities piece together Kumar’s background and details of this harrowing experience, one can only hope she finds the physical and emotional healing she desperately needs.
Can you imagine the willpower it must have taken for Kumar to survive this ordeal? From a peaceful quest for spiritual enlightenment to a terrifying struggle for survival, her story is a sobering reminder of life’s unpredictability. It also underscores the urgent need for intervention in cases of domestic violence, which, horrifyingly, can escalate to such brutal extremes.
