An American woman found chained to a tree in a forest in India said she had been tied there by her husband and left for “40 days without food”. 

Lalita Kayi Kumar, 50, was emaciated and unable to speak when she was found by rescuers in the Sindhudurg district, about 290 miles south of Mumbai.

She wrote a note for hospital staff which said her “husband tied me to a tree in a forest and said I would die there”.

She also said she would need intravenous food and had been given an “injection for extreme psychosis which causes severe locked jaw” and left her unable to drink water.

Photos shared by the rescuers and hospital showed the woman emaciated and covered in dirt.

Ms Kumar was found after a shepherd heard her cries for help and alerted police, the Indian Express reported.

The newspaper quoted local police, who said an attempted murder case had been registered against her former husband and investigators are searching for him.

She referenced her “former husband” in a note found in her bag, police said.

Police said the woman was born in the US but had been living in India for 10 years and her visa had expired.

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Ms Kumar was transferred to a hospital for advanced treatment and doctors said she appeared to be suffering from psychiatric problems, India TV News reported.

“The woman is weak as she has not eaten anything for a couple of days and also as the area experienced heavy rains,” the outlet reported a Maharashtra police official as saying.

“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.”

The official said police are trying to trace her relatives in India as part of the investigation.

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