CNN
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According to the local government, a Russian woman and her two young daughters have been found to live deep in the forests of South India, years after travel documents expired.
The woman, identified as Nina Kutina, 40 and 4, and her 40-year-old daughter, was found on July 9 while patrolling Ramatirtha Hill, a landslide-prone tourist spot on the coast of southern Karnataka, according to an issue by the office of local police chief M Narayana.
They lived in the cave for years, police added that their mother’s visa had expired eight years ago.
Kutina defended her decision to leave the grid with her daughter in an interview with Indian news agency ANI, explaining that she would swim in the waterfall, paint and do pottery.
“We naturally had a great experience of staying in the jungle. We didn’t die. We didn’t die in the jungle,” Kutina told Annie in English, sitting next to her in the car.
“They didn’t feel bad. They were very happy.”
Kuchina said their visas were “end a while ago” and that her family lived in four countries before heading to India in 2017.
Police said records arrived in Goa on a business visa that expired in April 2017 and left for Nepal before returning to India in September 2018.
Kuchina “was reluctant to provide appropriate details about her and her child’s passports and visas,” Narayana said.
She did not say whether her child was born in India or Russia, but she told authorities she had a son who died in Goa, Narayana told CNN.
“She loves nature so she doesn’t want to leave, but we have to follow the procedures,” Narayana said. The fact that she managed to be in India since 2017 without local government knowledge was a security concern, he added.
“Going to the cave is dangerous and it’s amazing to have two children and live there for more than a week,” Narayana added.
Authorities are taking steps to deport her child, who does not have Kuchina and a passport, Narayana said. They were moved to a detention facility especially nearby for foreigners in India illegally.
CNN has requested comment from the Russian Embassy.
