Russian Woman Living In Gokarna Cave Sent to Rescue Centre, Visa Questioned

Rescued Russian woman, Nina Kutina, who had been living in a cave for over two weeks in Gokarna, has been sent to a rescue centre in Tumakuru. This comes a day after her being processed by the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) in Bengaluru.

Kutina and her two children, who were six and four years old, were reportedly taken to a hospital for a check-up, according to NDTV. They were found to be in good health. She is also reported to be facing visa issues.

Who is Nina Kutina?

PTI reported that the police identified the woman as 40-year-old Nina Kutina alias Mohi, who had journeyed from Russia to India on a business visa and found her way to the sacred coastal town of Gokarna via Goa, drawn deeply by the Hinduism and Indian spiritual traditions.

Kutina was recused along with her two children. The family had been living in complete seclusion in a remote cave nestled in the serene yet treacherous Ramatirtha hills of Kumta taluk in Uttara Kannada district, a police officer said on Saturday, reported NDTV.

The Russian woman defended her lifestyle and rejected the claims made about her situation. According to NDTV, she said, “You give already a lot of lying information. We have big experience to stay in natural, in jungle, and we were not dying, and I did not bring my children, my daughters to die in jungle. They did not feel bad, they 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, I was cooking with gas, very good and tasty food."

When asked about the inclusion of her children in this “spiritual trip”, she said, "They have everything best, they were happy, and dressed, and sleeping good, and art lessons, and lessons about how to write and read, and they were not dying from hunger, never, everything not true. I have a lot of websites like social net, my profile has a lot of video about our life experience, and a lot of years, different country, like near 20 countries I live, different forest, because we love natural."

The family was checked into a local hospital for health check-ups and was found to be in good health. 

Question of Valid Visa 

Kutina admitted to NDTV that their visa had expired, but disagreed that they had extended their stay in India since 2017. She claimed that the expired visa, which was being questioned, was from one of her previous visits to India. 

She said, "It is lying, because they found my old passport, and they decide what it's like, they did not check if it's real true. We don't have our visa, valid visa, our visa finished, but it was short time ago. After 2017, we already were in four countries, leave and then come back to India."

She also explained her continued stay in India after her older son had passed away. "After I had my son, big son, he died, died, and because it happened, and it brought what my new visa, I stayed little more, but not so much."

Reportedly, Kutina claimed that she has not lived in Russia for over 15 years as she had been travelling to Costa Rica, Malaysia, Bali, Thailand, Nepal, and Ukraine.