KEY POINTS:
• Russian woman Nina Kutina, 40, and her daughters aged 6 and 4 found in cave on July 9, according to police statements cited by AP News • Police told the BBC the area has “a lot of snakes” and is “prone to landslides,” as reported by CBS News and Saudi Gazette • CNN reported that police said the mother’s visa expired eight years ago • The News Minute reported that the children’s Israeli father opposes deportation and seeks shared custody
Police in India’s southern Karnataka state discovered a Russian woman and her two young daughters living in a remote forest cave during a routine patrol, raising questions about visa violations and child welfare.
According to AP News, police found Nina Kutina, 40, and her daughters, aged six and four, during a routine patrol to Ramatirtha Hill on July 9. The CBS News reported that Police officer Sridhar S.R. said the family had been living in the cave for more than a week.
CBS News reported that police told the BBC they had been patrolling the area to warn foreigners of potential hazards. “The area is popular with tourists, especially foreigners. But it has a lot of snakes and it’s prone to landslides, especially during the rainy season,” M Narayana, superintendent of police for Uttara Kannada district, told the BBC, according to CBS News and Saudi Gazette.
The Saudi Gazette reported that when officers got closer to the cave, “a little blonde girl came running out,” police told the BBC. According to the same report, when police followed her inside, they found Kutina and the other child.
Visa Violations and Deportation Proceedings
CNN reported that police said the mother’s visa expired eight years ago. India Blooms reported that authorities found she had entered India on a Business Visa, which expired in April 2017. According to the same source, although she was granted an exit permit in 2018 and briefly left for Nepal, she re-entered India later that year and had overstayed her permitted duration since.
According to AP News and ABC News, police said they were taking steps to repatriate Kutina to Russia for overstaying her visa. CNN reported that Narayana told them that officials are taking steps to repatriate Kutina and her children, who do not have passports, to Russia.
The Saudi Gazette reported that authorities say the 40-year-old and her daughters do not have valid documents to stay in India and have been lodged in a detention centre for foreigners near Bengaluru.
Mother’s Defense of Lifestyle
CNN reported that Kutina defended her decision to live off the grid with her daughters in an interview with India’s ANI news agency. “We have big experience to stay in nature, in jungle. We were not dying. I did not bring my daughters to die in jungle,” Kutina told ANI, according to CNN.
The Tribune reported that Kutina said her children “were very happy, they swam in waterfall, they lived, had very good place for sleeping, a lot of lessons with art making, we made from clay, we painted, we ate good.”
According to AP News and ABC News, police said in a statement that Kutina spent her time in the cave meditating by candlelight, and that she told investigating officers she was “interested in staying in the forest and worshiping God.”
Family Background and Custody Dispute
CBS News reported that in video interviews with India’s ANI and PTI news agencies, Kutina said she had four children between the ages of 20 and 5 years and said her eldest “who died in a road accident in Goa last year,” the BBC reported. CBS News also reported that officials say her second son is 11 years old and is in Russia and that they have shared the information with the consulate, according to the BBC.
The News Minute reported that Dror Goldstein, Nina’s former partner and the father of both children, is fighting to stop the deportation. According to the same source, the 38-year-old Israeli musician and businessman told them he fears for his children’s well-being if they are deported.
The News Minute reported that Goldstein’s legal counsel, Advocate Beena Pillai from NextLegal Services, told them they are exploring all legal avenues to stop the deportation. “We believe both children may be eligible for Indian citizenship,” she told The News Minute.
Living Conditions and Discovery
AP News reported that police officer Sridhar said police found pictures of Hindu deities on the inside walls of the cave where Kutina had been living. According to the same source, in a photograph provided by the police, she is seen in front of makeshift curtains made of red saris that covered the entrance to the cave.
The Saudi Gazette reported that the cave dwelling had meagre possessions including “plastic mats, clothes, packets of instant noodles and some other grocery items” and that the cave was leaking.
CNN reported that Narayana told them, “Going (into) caves is a dangerous thing, and with two children, and to live there for a week or more is astonishing.”
Post-Discovery Communications
According to AP News and ABC News, the police statement said Kutina sent a message to her friends after she was found. “Our peaceful life in the cave has ended — our cave home destroyed,” she wrote in the message, according to the police statement cited by both sources.
AP News reported that The Associated Press contacted Kutina over the phone but she declined to comment. According to the same source, on Tuesday, she told news agency Press Trust of India that she spent her days in the cave by painting, singing, reading books, and living peacefully with her children.
The India.com reported that Kutina claimed “the ashes of my son who passed away nine months ago were taken away from her” and that she said they are “now kept in an uncomfortable place.”
