Bengaluru: For the two police constables, who entered a cave in the Ramathirtha forests, following a foot trail in the forest, it looked like a story directly from the Jungle Book. Some idols and flowers on them indicated that someone had made a cave temple, but when they went further inside, they encountered a four-year-old white girl, without any clothes on her body.
Petrified by the sight, thinking that they had entered some haunted cave, the constables rushed back and informed the senior officers, who were waiting a few meters away from the cave. When the others rushed in, the girl was not disturbed, but smiled at them. When they went further into the cave, they found two compartments to the cave and in one of the compartments, a 40-year-old woman was peacefully sleeping with another seven year old child.
At the sound of the footsteps, the woman woke up and the police were sure that she was a foreigner, which is a common sight in the Om Beach of Gokarna, which is just 10-kms away from the cave. Unlike police suspicion, the woman was not another drug addict and was in a sound frame of mind.
She was Nina Kutina (40) from Russia and had come to India on a business visa long ago. Her visa had expired way back in 2017 and she had once extended it as an exit visa in Goa. Since then, she has not bothered to renew it again. The two children -- Prema (6) and Ama (4) appear to be born in India itself, as these two children do not have any identification papers. She was staying in the cave for the last two months and she was a frequent visitor to the Gokarna temple.
Nina requested the police not to move her from that place, as she wanted to live in nature with her children. The police found a number of snakes moving around in the cave and Nina said that they were friendly and the three were co-existing with the snakes and other animals without any problem.
During the inquiry, Nina said that she came to India and was inspired by the culture and spirituality of the country. She said: ``you people are lucky to be born here. I just want to live here rest of my life peacefully.''
However, the police could do a little about it. They told Nina that she had to move from that forest, as there was a landslide in the same place during last monsoon. They also convinced her that no human being could live in the forests without department permission.
Nina did not reveal much about who the father of her two children are. She also did not give much details about her Russian identity. But she exhibited enough knowledge about Indian spirituality, rituals and meditation. After a lot of persuasion, Nina accepted to be relocated to Saraswathi Yogashrama at Kumata, around 50 kms from Gokarna.
After staying for two days at Saraswathi Yogashrama, where an 85-year-old woman teaches Yoga and Meditation, Nina and her children were sent to Foreign Residents Registration Office, Bengaluru for deporting her to Russia.
Tracking of Nina was accidental, as the police in and around Gokarna were cautious about the foreign nationals, especially camping at Om Beach. There are a lot of complaints of drug peddling as well as rave parties. The foreigners, to avoid the wrath of locals and police, look for many secluded places.
Three days ago, the police patrol team was passing through the Ramathirtha forests and noticed a small foot trail leading inside the forest. Presuming that it should be a track regularly used by the poachers, the police inspector sent two constables to check where it led to.
Within 10 minutes, the police came back rushing and said that there was a four year old child in the cave and it looked like a haunted place. The inspector went with the constables and found Nina sleeping in one of the two compartments of the cave.
Initially, Nina said that she had lost her passport and that was the reason she was staying in the cave. However, during the search, the police found the passport and realised that her Visa had expired way back on April 17, 2017. For the safety of the woman and her children, the Police has registered her in women and child welfare's Mahila Sweekar kendra.
Initially, Nina refused to be relocated either to any women rehabilitation center or other places. However, when they told about the Saraswathi Yogashrama, she readily agreed to stay there.
