Russian Woman Found Living in Indian Jungle Cave with Daughters

Nina Kutina and her two daughters had experienced a quiet life in their jungle cave. Hidden in the forests near Gokarna, a coastal town in southern India, they woke with the sun, swam in rivers, and embraced a natural way of living.

Kutina prepared meals over fires or a gas cylinder, depending on the weather, and obtained food from a nearby village. She and her children spent their days painting, singing, reading, and living simply. Then, the authorities arrived.

The story of how the 40-year-old Russian woman and her six- and four-year-old daughters came to reside in a damp Karnataka cave has captured national attention. Police discovered the family on July 9 during a routine patrol of the forested hills, a popular tourist area. Officers noticed red saris draped over tree branches and soon realized they concealed the entrance to a cave.

Inside, a Hindu deity statue stood among scattered clothes. A young blond girl then appeared, and officers were surprised to find Kutina asleep nearby with another child.

Kutina explained that she chose the cave as a place for meditation and prayer, seeking to distance herself and her children from city life. She cooked vegetable dishes and flatbreads on a small stove while the children bathed in waterfalls and slept on plastic mats.

Authorities estimate she had been there for at least a week when found and had occasionally stayed in the cave over the past nine months. She dismissed concerns about the dangers of the area, especially during monsoon season, stating that "animals and snakes are our friends" and that only humans posed a threat.

Despite her protests, police took the family to town, where they stayed in a shelter after Kutina underwent a medical examination. M Narayana, a local police official, described her as deeply disconnected from society yet kind and spiritually rooted.

After being removed from her cave, Kutina wrote to a friend, calling their shelter a "prison without sky, grass, or waterfalls" with cold floors that they now slept on for supposed protection.

Records show Kutina first arrived in India in 2016, eventually settling in Goa’s Arambol Beach, a favored spot among Russian visitors. A year later, she met an Israeli man, Dror Goldstein. Overstaying her visa in 2018 led to her deportation to Russia, after which she traveled to Ukraine and gave birth to their first daughter. She had two older sons from a previous relationship.

Returning to India in 2020 with her children, she reunited with Goldstein in Goa and later became pregnant again while supporting herself through teaching art and language.