Woman Chained to Tree in India and Allegedly Left to Die Wrote Note: '40 Days Without Food and Water'

Lalita Kayi Kumar, 50, alleges her ex-husband left her in a jungle to die

<p>India Today/Facebook</p> An elderly woman from the United States was found chained to a tree in a forest in Maharashtra

India Today/Facebook

An elderly woman from the United States was found chained to a tree in a forest in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district on Saturday

Content warning: This story contains details of alleged abuse.

An American woman found tied to a tree in a jungle in India alleged in a note that her ex-husband had left her there, claiming she had gone 40 days without food and water.

Lalita Kayi Kumar, 50, was rescued by authorities about 280 miles south of Mumbai on Saturday, July 27, police said, after a shepherd heard her cries in a jungle, according to the Deccan Chronicle, the Indian Express andThe Times of London.

She had been tied to a tree with an iron chain, local police said, per The Hindustan Times.

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After she was taken to the hospital, she wrote a note for authorities in which she alleged what had happened to her, according to a video shared by India Today.

“Husband tied me to a tree in the forest and said I would die there," she is seen writing on a notepad, while being surrounded by several medical personnel at the hospital.

Related: American Woman Found Chained to a Tree in India Went Without Food for 40 Days, Was Allegedly Left to Die

She is also seen writing she went “40 days without food and water” and that an “injection for extreme psychosis” left her with a “severely locked jaw,” the video shows.

Authorities have not said how much time she spent chained to the tree, or how long she went without food or water. MedLine Plus, a health information website run by the NIH National Library of Medicine, states: "Without consuming water, humans would die in a few days."

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It wasn’t immediately clear if police believe the alleged injection was given by her husband. Police say they found medical prescriptions in her possession and that doctors say she has mental illness, Deccan Chronicle, the Indian Express reported.

"I am a crime victim," she wrote at the end of the note, the video shows.

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Kumar's allegations led local authorities to open a case for attempted murder against her husband, police said, per CBS News and British newspaper The Times.

The husband is identified only as Satish by police to CBS News.

Kumar, a U.S. citizen, was found with her U.S. passport and an expired Indian visa on her, police said, per the Indian Express.

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It’s not clear if there is an investigation from the U.S. PEOPLE has reached out to State Department officials for comment.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

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