Russian woman found in Karnataka cave may have to fund her air tickets to get deported, say legal experts

Indian Express

a day ago

The Karnataka Police have initiated proceedings to deport a Russian woman and her two minor children who were recently spotted living in a remote cave near Gokarna in Uttara Kannada district.
The police said they convinced the Russian woman, Nina Kutina, 40, to temporarily move to an ashram run by a sadhvi in Kumta taluk, stating that the area she was living in was prone to landslides and infested with poisonous snakes. Her two daughters are aged six and four years, respectively.
M Narayan, Superintendent of Police, Uttara Kannada, said arrangements have been made to send Kutina and her children back to Russia by contacting and corresponding with the Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) in Bengaluru.
However, legal experts said that the deportation process was complicated and it could cost Kutina a lot of time and money.
Sahana Basavapatna, a Bengaluru-based lawyer who has handled similar illegal immigrant cases, said neither the Indian government nor the Russian government funds their travel, forcing deportees to spend more time in detention centres.
'The governments ask illegal immigrants to raise funds for air tickets. I have seen some of the illegal immigrants spending a good amount of time in these centres in India. The immigrant will have to raise money, or someone will have to help deport them,' she added.
Referring to the case of Pakistani national Iqra Jeewani, who was deported within days of her detention in 2023, Basavapatna stated that the government deports nationals of 'enemy countries' using its funds in view of potential threats.
A police officer said Kutina is spiritually inclined and interested in natural living.
'As she is in a state of shock, we have just counselled her but have not tried to collect her details. There are a lot of questions – whether she or the children have taken COVID-19 vaccines, whether she has checked into any hotel without providing any documents, how she gave birth to the children if she was not admitted to a hospital…
'We also found that she had stored a good amount of groceries and wood in the cave to cook food. Yoga, chanting mantras, meditation, drawing and singing were part of her routine. We have initiated the process of taking her to Bengaluru,' the officer added.
While both of Kutina's children were likely born in India, they would not get Indian citizenship, said experts.
They said that according to the law, any person born in India after December 4, 2004, can get Indian citizenship if one parent is an Indian citizen, and the other parent is not an illegal immigrant.
In Kutina's case, as she was an illegal immigrant at the time of her children's birth, the kids will not get Indian citizenship. Kutina entered India on a business visa that expired in 2017, much before the children were born.