Karnataka HC allows Russian woman, daughters found in cave to return home

The Karnataka High Court allowed a Russian woman and her daughters to return to Russia after being found in a cave.

The Karnataka High Court on Friday allowed the Union Government to issue travel documents for a Russian woman and her two minor daughters, facilitating their return to Russia after they were found living in a cave in coastal Karnataka.

Russian citizen Nina Kutina, 40, was found in the cave by a police team from Gokarna station during a routine safety patrol. (PTI/HT File)

Justice BM Shyam Prasad passed the order while hearing a petition filed by Israeli national Dror Shlomo Goldstein, who claims to be the father of the children. Goldstein had sought a court directive to prevent the immediate deportation of the minors, news agency PTI reported.

The woman, Nina Kutina, was discovered on July 11 in a cave in the Ramatirtha Hills near Gokarna in Kumta taluk. Authorities said Kutina and her daughters had been living there for nearly two months without valid travel or residence documents. Goldstein had earlier lodged a complaint at Panaji police station in Goa in December last year after being unable to trace his children in India, according to court records.

During Friday’s hearing, the court noted that the Russian consulate had issued emergency travel documents (ETDs) for Kutina and her daughters, valid until October 9, and that Kutina herself had communicated to the consulate her wish to return to Russia at the earliest.

Goldstein’s counsel opposed the deportation, arguing that it would be against the best interests of the children while custody proceedings were pending. However, the court observed that Goldstein had not provided a satisfactory explanation for why the mother and children had been living in isolation in a cave prior to their rescue.

Emphasising the principle of child welfare, the bench said that the mother’s request to travel back to Russia, along with the Russian government’s readiness to facilitate their return, outweighed other considerations.

At an earlier hearing on August 22, Goldstein’s legal team had invoked the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, while Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Arvind Kamath informed the court that Kutina and her daughters were being looked after at the Foreigners Restriction Centre for Women. He had also clarified that deportation would not be carried out immediately, as DNA tests were pending to establish the parentage of the younger child, who lacked official documents such as a passport or birth certificate.

On Friday, the ASG informed the court that the DNA report for the second daughter had been received and communicated to the Russian government, which subsequently issued Russian citizenship and emergency travel documents to enable Kutina and her daughters to travel to Russia.