She claimed her husband had 'chained' her to a tree for 40 days: the woman had actually made it all up

La femme avait été retrouvée accrochée à un arbre fin juillet. Illustration Unsplash – Shreyas Malavalli

At the end of July, a 50-year-old woman was found hanging from a tree in an Indian forest. She claimed that her husband had tied her there 40 days ago to leave her there to die. But investigators discovered she had staged the whole thing

Identified as an American living in Tamil Nadu, India for 10 years, the woman was discovered by a shepherd on Saturday, July 27, 2024, thanks to her screams. She was then tied to a tree by the leg with a metal chain.

She tied herself

Very emaciated and in psychological distress, she had claimed that her husband had tied her to a tree for 40 days without leaving her any food. After psychological tests that confirmed the fifty-year-old's mental problems, the police opened an investigation against her ex-husband to verify her statements.

Finally, the authorities and doctors discovered that the American had made it all up and had chained herself to the tree. She said she was not married and was probably hallucinating when she first made her statement, police commissioner Saurabh Agarwal told the BBC.

Her family in the US has been notified

Strapped for cash, the 50-year-old was upset when her visa expired and decided to buy padlocks and chains to tie herself to a tree in the forest, the police.

To date, the woman's condition is improving according to her doctors: “She is eating, walking and exercising. She is on medication and we are also giving her the nutrients her body was lacking.”

Her family, who live in the United States, have been notified and put in touch with her, according to an Indian doctor.