Woman shackled in jungle clung to life for forty days without food before local shepherd rescued her

A woman who was found chained to a tree in a jungle in India is thought to have been trapped there for 40 days.

US citizen Lalita Kayi Kumar was found on Saturday (27 July) shackled in a wooded area near the village of Sonurli and rescued after a shepherd heard her crying for help.

The 50-year-old woman was rushed to hospital in critical condition, reports The Times, and when she was receiving treatment, she reportedly wrote a note claiming that her ex-husband had chained her to the tree.

In the note, she claimed to have gone without food for 40 days, and when she was found, she was severely dehydrated.

Her leg was also swollen from being chained up.

In hospital Lalita Kayi Kumar wrote out a message detailing her ordeal, and claiming her ex-husband was the culprit. (India Today)

Police superintendent Saurabh Agrawal said: "Based on the note written by the woman at the hospital, a case has been registered against her former husband on charges of attempted murder, act endangering life or personal safety of others and wrongful confinement under the [criminal code]."

According to India Today, in one of the notes she'd wrote for police, she told them: "Injection for extreme psychosis which caused a severely locked jaw and inability to drink any water.

"Need intravenous food. 40 days without food and water. Husband tied me to a tree in the forest and said I would die there."

Officers said she was yet to give them a verbal statement 'as she is recuperating', but they have started their investigation based on details she provided.

Kumar is a US citizen but had been living in Goa, India for the past decade.

She was found with a photocopy of her American passport and Indian documents including an expired visa next to her, The Times reports.

The 50-year-old wrote a message to tell police what had been done to her. (India Today)

Police officials said that the 50-year-old woman was 'out of danger', saying: "Doctors treating her said she suffers from psychiatric problems. We have found medical prescriptions in her possession."

Authorities are now trying to locate the woman's relatives, as well as track down her ex-husband, as per The Independent.

Police have registered a case of attempted murder against him based on the note Kumar wrote, and they are also trying to verify whether the claims the 50-year-old made in her note are true and accurate.

She was later transferred to the Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour (IPHB) at Goa Medical College and Hospital in Bambolim for further treatment.

Police investigations into her claims she made in the aftermath of being chained to a tree and the whereabouts of her ex-husband are ongoing.