
According to the police, Ms Kayi was a ballet dancer and yoga practitioner in America – some reports say specifically Massachusetts – and moved to India about 10 years ago to study yoga and meditation in Tamil Nadu.
It was there that she met her husband – in some media reports, police have called him Satish. Police say they believe at some point she fell out with her husband.
Some reports say that she stayed in a hotel in Goa for two days and then travelled to Mumbai city, India’s financial capital.
But there is no clarity surrounding when or how she then ended up in the forest where she was discovered last week.
Ms Kayi, who was initially unable to speak, communicated with the police and doctors by scribbling notes on a pad. Through them she blamed her husband for tying her to the tree and claimed that she had gone without food and water for 40 days.
She also claimed that she had been given an “injection for extreme psychosis” which locked her jaw and prevented her from drinking water, and that she had to be provided nutrition intravenously.
“I am a victim and survived. But he ran away from here,” she alleged.
Police say they have been unable to verify these claims and believe it is unlikely that someone would survive without food or water for so long.
They have registered a case of attempted murder against her husband and have dispatched teams to Tamil Nadu, Goa and Maharashtra to investigate the matter further. Her husband is yet to be traced by the police and hasn’t made any statements to the media.
Police say they are also looking for clues in the mobile phone and the tablet they found on the woman.
The US embassy in Delhi – which media reports say has been “exerting pressure on the police to speed up the investigation” – has refused to comment on the case.
A spokesperson told the BBC that it could not respond to inquiries “due to the US Privacy Act”, which governs the dissemination of private information.
Follow BBC India on Instagram, external, YouTube, external, Twitter, external and Facebook, external
Best Electronic Deals.
Discover the Best Electronic Deals on Amazon Today. Grab Hot Discounts on Top Tech! Don't Miss Out! 🔥 Save Big Now!
Auto Amazon Links: No products found.