Russian woman living with two kids in Gokarna cave rescued

Gokarna, Uttara Kannada: Police in Gokarna on Friday rescued a Russian woman and her two daughters who were found living in a cave near Ramatheertha Hill in Kumta taluk of Uttara Kannada district.

The woman, 40-year-old Nina Kutina alias Mohi, had journeyed from Russia to India on a business visa and found her way to the coastal town of Gokarna via Goa, drawn deeply to Hinduism and Indian spiritual traditions. The police said that her visa had expired in 2017. 

Her two daughters (aged 6 and 4 years) accompanied her into the heart of the forest, where they had been living in complete seclusion for nearly two weeks inside a natural cave surrounded by dense woods and steep slopes.

Gokarna Police Station inspector Sridhar S R said they patrolled the area following a complaint by a local resident and were dumbfounded when they discovered the Russian woman in the cave. 

Mohi told police that she travelled to Nepal in 2018 and returned to India in 2022. Since then, she had lived in various parts of the country. The woman had been living in the cave for the past three weeks.

The woman and the children are now lodged in a rescue centre in Karwar. They will be taken to Foreigners Regional Registration Office in Bengaluru on July 14 for further action. 

“It was quite surprising how she and her children survived in the woods and what they ate. Thankfully, nothing untoward happened to her or the children during their time in the forest,” said M Narayana, Superintendent of Police, Uttara Kannada district. 

Quote:

“It was quite surprising how she and her children survived in the woods and what they ate. Thankfully nothing untoward happened to her or the children during their time in the forest."

- M Narayana, Superintendent of Police Uttara Kannada district