A 40-year-old Russian woman and her two young daughters were rescued from a cave in Gokarna, Karnataka, where they had been living in isolation, on Friday, July 11. The woman, identified as Nina Kutina, also known as Mohi, was found with her daughters, Prema (6) and Ama (4), during a routine police patrol.
Officers from the Gokarna police station noticed clothes hanging near a cave on Ramatirtha Hill, a hazardous area prone to landslides and inhabited by wild animals. Circle Inspector Sridhar SR and his team hiked through thick vegetation and found the family living inside the cave, where Nina was seen teaching her elder daughter by lamplight.
According to Uttara Kannada Superintendent of Police M Narayana, Nina had previously lived in the same cave two or three times, saying she was searching for “mental peace.” She told police she came to India in 2016 on a business visa, which expired in 2017. After leaving Goa following a dispute at a resort where she had been employed, she moved between Nepal and the forests around Gokarna.
“Nina refused to share details about her husband or the father of her children,” SP Narayana said. “She said she spent time meditating and praying in the cave, but it was clearly unsafe for the children.”
Police recovered her expired passport and visa. The family has since been taken into the care of the Women and Child Welfare Department and is currently staying at an ashram in Bankikodla village.
Authorities plan to hand the family over to FRRO officials in Bengaluru for further legal action and coordination with the Russian Embassy regarding their return home.