Father of children found living with Russian woman in Karnataka cave is Israeli businessman currently in India: officials

Indian Express

15-07-2025

Investigations into the incident where a 40-year-old Russian woman overstaying in India was found living with her two children in a cave in Karnataka have led officials to the children's father, an Israeli businessman.
Speaking to indianexpress.com, an official of the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), said the Israeli citizen was now in India on a business visa. FRRO officials held a meeting with the Israeli man on Tuesday to check if he can sponsor the flight tickets of Nina Kutina, the Russian woman, and the two children.
'The Israeli man who is in his 40s had met Nina a long time ago and they were in love. He is the father of the children who were with Nina. He is in the clothing business. Fortunately, we have been able to meet him,' the officer said.
Nina Kutina was not ready to discuss the father of her children. But with the help of counselling, she opened up and talked about the Israel national, an official said.
The FRRO officials said that it would take nearly a month to deport them after completing all the formalities. 'She has another child back in Russia, and we have informed the Consulate-General of Russia located in Chennai. The procedures will take some time,' an official said.
'Nina is said to have met the Israeli man in 2017 or 2018 and he had returned to his country, but at this point, we found him in India with a valid visa and passport,' the official said.
'She claims that she delivered the baby on her own while staying at a cave in Goa. Though it is hard to believe, we are not in a state to deny that either,' said a police officer from the Gokarna police station in Uttara Kannada district.
Nina Kutina was found living in a cave near Gokarna on July 9. She is now at a detention centre in Bengaluru.
Speaking to the media in a video, Nina Kutina said on Tuesday that she was happy in the jungle with her children and that her kids had seen the hospital and doctors for the first time.
'We have a lot of experience staying in nature, in the jungle. We were not dying and I did not bring my daughters so that they die here. They were very happy, swimming in the waterfall, a very good place for sleeping. They learnt a lot of lessons with art making using clay and painting. We used to cook and eat tasty food. It was never like I go to the garden and not give my children anything. They got everything best,' she said.
'I have travelled to at least 20 countries and lived in different forests because we love nature. We live with nature because it gives good health, water and air. You can do moving, yoga and wake up to the sunrise, sleep on the ground,' she said.
'Today (Tuesday), they brought us to the hospital and for the first time my daughters were in a hospital. They have been healthy. We stayed in the jungle because it is natural and the cave was not inside a thick forest and the cave was also not small. It has a window type from where we could see the ocean. What more do you want,' she added.
Nina Kutina also said that her visa's validity expired not in 2017, as the police claim, but much later. 'After 2017, we were in four countries before returning to India,' she said.
Nina Kutina said that she had travelled to Costa Rica, Malaysia, Bali, Thailand, Nepal, and Ukraine. In India, she stayed in Rishikesh for sometime before going to Gokarna. She said she lost a son a long time ago, adding that she did not come to Gokarna in pursuit of spirituality.