Israeli father denied meeting children rescued from Karnataka cave

A week after Karnataka Police rescued Russian national Nina Kutina and her two young daughters from a remote cave in the Ramatirtha hills near Gokarna, a heart-wrenching custody dispute has erupted — with the children’s Israeli father claiming he was barred from meeting them despite waiting outside a detention centre for an entire day.

Dror Goldstein, 38, travelled to Karnataka’s Tumakuru district on July 17, where Nina and their daughters — aged 6 and 4 — are being held in a detention facility. Goldstein, who has sought shared custody and pleaded that his children not be deported to Russia, was denied access, allegedly because Kutina did not consent to a meeting.

“He waited there from morning till evening,” said Goldstein’s lawyer Beena Pillai. “The authorities told him to seek permission from the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), which he did via email. But the response we got said Nina does not want to meet him, so permission could not be granted.”

“He only wants to meet his children. After that, an amicable settlement can be explored,” Pillai added. Goldstein has since returned to Bengaluru.

Kutina and her daughters were found living in isolation in a forest cave—a discovery that has shocked officials and raised serious questions about the children's safety, mental health, and lack of formal education.

According to a missing person complaint filed by Goldstein in Goa’s Panaji police station last December, the couple met in 2017 in Arambol, fell in love, and began a relationship that spanned nearly eight years, marked by separations and reconciliation. However, Goldstein claimed Kutina had been evasive in recent years, allegedly keeping the children away from him and refusing to send them to school.

“She was totally against formal education,” Goldstein said in the complaint. “She would say she doesn’t believe in it and kept the children from socializing. I’m deeply concerned for their emotional and developmental well-being.”

He also alleged that Kutina would frequently “disappear without informing” and that he had been cut off from his daughters during extended periods.

As legal complexities now entangle with emotional and diplomatic sensitivities, Goldstein continues to push for shared custody, hoping that authorities will intervene to ensure the welfare of the children, both physically and emotionally.