Russian woman found living in Karnataka’s Gokarna cave with two daughters, rescued

The police identified the woman as 40-year-old Nina Kutina, who had journeyed from Russia to India on a business visa that expired in 2017 and found her way to the sacred coastal town of Gokarna via Goa

A 40-year-old Russian woman, staying in an isolated cave along with her two children in the forests of Gokarna in Uttara Kannada district, has been rescued by the Gokarna police. Her visa expired in 2017, said the police.

The discovery of the woman was made by the Gokarna police on the evening of July 9 and it has belatedly come to light. The police had intensified patrolling in the area after the drowning of two medical students from Tamil Nadu a few months ago, and also because of the potential threat of landslips during monsoon.

Signs of habitation

The police noticed signs of inhabitation near an isolated cave in the forest of Ramateertha Hills and they found the foreigner along with the two children inside.

The woman has been identified as Russian national Nina Kutina, who was staying in the cave along with her daughters, six-year-old Prema and four-year-old Ama. She reportedly told the police that she was staying in the cave as she was inclined towards spirituality and liked to meditate in the forest.

As Ramateertha Hills at Gokarna is prone to landslips, the police wanted the woman to shift to a safer location. It was only after a lot of convincing that the woman agreed to shift and as per her wish, the police took her to the ashram of Swami Yogaratna Saraswati, affiliated to Shankar Prasad Foundation at Bankikodla in Kumta taluk.

Superintendent of Police of Uttara Kannada M. Narayan said that the woman did not disclose details of her passport and visa initially. Later after counselling, she revealed that she might have lost her passport and visa in the forest near the cave or misplaced it in the cave. The police found the documents in the cave and verification revealed that the visa expired on April 17, 2017, Mr. Narayan told The Hindu.

On business visa

“The Russian national had come to Goa on a business visa valid from October 18, 2016, to April 17, 2017. As she had overstayed, the Panaji Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) issued an exit permit on April 19, 2018. The woman had then gone to Nepal and returned to India,” he said.

Mr. Narayan said that they had informed the FRRO in Bengaluru and they would be sending the woman and her children to Bengaluru. At present, the woman and her children are sheltered in ‘Mahila Sweekar Kendra’ of Karwar.