Lalita Kayi came to India 10 years ago to study yoga and meditation. How did she end up in a forest?

Mystery surrounds an American woman who was found chained to a tree “screaming” in a forest in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.

Lalita Kayi, 50, was discovered a week ago in the dense forests of Sindhudurg district after her cries for help were heard by shepherds. They alerted the police who sawed off the chain and rescued her.

Ms Kayi, who appeared completely emaciated, was taken to hospital. Her physical health has since improved and, on Friday, she was moved to a psychiatric facility for further treatment, doctors treating her told the BBC.

In a written statement to the police, she has alleged that her husband “chained her and left her in the forest to die without food or water”.

  • @LesserAbe
    50•1 month ago

    Yeah, and that her version of events doesn’t seem possible (no food and water for 40 days)

    • @Tikiporch
      61•1 month ago

      You reckon it’s possible to lose track of time when chained to a tree while experiencing a psychotic episode?

      • @LesserAbe
        19•1 month ago

        Did you read the article? They took her to a psychiatric hospital, and explicitly note there’s a discrepancy about the time. I’m not saying she wasn’t abused, or that her whole story is fake. Just, we all know you can’t go 40 days without water. You can’t go a week without water.

        • @[email protected]
          10•1 month ago

          It rains a lot in some parts of India, hence the existence of the jungle where she was chained.

          Maybe she survived by drinking puddles of rainwater within her range of movement?

          That may not be enough water to sustain her forever, but it would extend her survival.

          That, and lack of water and food can lead to delirium which can lead to losing sense of time.

          She might have picked “40 days” as a Bible reference. That’s a pretty common number that represents a long time in western culture, even if they’re not directly referencing the Bible.

          • @Cosmonauticus
            3•1 month ago

            That’s a lot of mights and maybes. I feel the article did an ok job at leaving those out and going only off of what is known. Which is exactly what the news is suppose to be

        • @Tikiporch
          2•1 month ago

          I read the article. I understand the basis of your argument.

        • @clockwork_octopusEnglish
          1•1 month ago

          You can’t survive 40 days without rehydration, but if you were given fluid intravenously, you can go without actually drinking anything. She states he injected her with something, maybe it was drugged, and maybe he hooked her up with an iv drip? I dunno. The whole situation is royally fucked up, any way you look at it

          • @mint_tamas
            12•1 month ago

            Being hooked up to an IV drip in the middle of a forest is surely something the article would have mentioned?

            • @clockwork_octopusEnglish
              2•1 month ago

              I agree, I’m just speculating how it would be possible.

              • @[email protected]
                3•1 month ago

                That’d have to be a pretty large IV bag for 40 days. If he was trying to kill her he wouldn’t have hung one up to begin with, and he wouldn’t have come back to change the bags if he did hang one up for whatever reason.

                • @clockwork_octopusEnglish
                  1•1 month ago

                  Perhaps the intent wasn’t to kill her, but only to keep her secure somewhere, and that’s why she had a tablet and phone and money and ID. (But why? Were they/was he in some kind of trouble, and they were (he was, since he left her literally chained to a fucking tree, implying she didn’t want to go/be with him (can’t blame her there) and he obviously couldn’t trust that she wouldn’t run off the first chance she got) planning on fleeing the country? Not enough money to buy a plane ticket, but a train ticket, maybe? Why else leave her with her ID?))

                  Maybe he did come back a few times and something happened to him where he couldn’t come back. (Why wouldn’t he come back? Did he get himself killed? What kind of trouble were they in, anyways??) (Although you’d think they’d have found an iv plug, or evidence of one. I guess it’s possible they purposely kept back information from being published, I know they do that sometimes.))

    • @[email protected]
      18•1 month ago

      I know, I am just someone on the Internet, but I was acquainted with someone who fasted for 40 days… twice (a little over a year apart I think)… in pursuit of some kind of spiritual enlightenment. He started out a little on the heavy side, and ended up, well, emaciated. Anyway, he did have water, which is where I think this woman’s story falls apart.