On July 9, 2025, Gokarna police uncovered a startling scene during a patrol in Ramatirtha Hills, Uttara Kannada, Karnataka: Nina Kutina, a 40-year-old Russian woman, and her daughters, aged six and four, living in a remote cave. Inspector Sridhar SR’s team spotted clothes drying outside and found Kutina teaching one child while the other played. “Animal did not attack us, we only feared people,” Kutina told police, explaining her secluded life. Her passport showed an expired business visa from 2017. Citing landslide risks, authorities moved the family to an ashram in Bankikodla village on July 10.
The family, surviving two months in the cave on stored groceries, was relocated to a women’s centre in Karwar on July 11, 2025, for safety. Police launched an investigation to determine how they endured in the dangerous, landslide-prone area. On July 13, Kutina was transferred to Bengaluru for further action by the Foreigners Regional Registration Office. Reported on July 12, 2025, the case continues to draw attention as authorities probe the family’s isolated existence.
