Karwar (Karnataka), Jul 12 (PTI): A spiritually inclined Russian woman and her two young children were rescued from a remote cave nestled in the serene yet treacherous Ramatirtha hills of Kumta taluk in Uttara Kannada district, a police officer said on Saturday.
Police identified the woman as 40-year-old Nina Kutina alias Mohi, who had journeyed from Russia to India on a business visa and found her way to the sacred coastal town of Gokarna via Goa, drawn deeply by the Hinduism and Indian spiritual traditions.
Her children, Preya (6) and Ama (4), had accompanied her into the heart of the forest, where they had been living in complete seclusion for nearly two weeks.
The small family had made a humble home inside a natural cave surrounded by dense woods and steep slopes.
There, Mohi kept a Rudra idol and spent her days in 'Puja' and meditation, seeking spiritual peace amidst nature. Her only companions were her two little children.
It was during a routine patrol on Friday, following a recent landslide that Circle Police Inspector Sridhar and his team spotted clothes hanging outside the cave.
Curious and cautious, the officers made their way through the thick shrubs of Ramatirtha Hill and found Mohi and her two children in the cave.
Uttara Kannada Superintendent of Police M Narayana, speaking to PTI on Saturday, said, "Our patrolling team spotted saree and other clothes being hung for drying outside the cave in Ramatirtha Hill. When they went there, they spotted Mohi along with her children Preya and Ama."
He added, "It was quite surprising how she and her children survived in the woods and what they ate. Thankfully, nothing untoward happened to her or the children during their time in the forest."
According to him, the woman may have reached the cave from Goa.
It was also found that her visa had expired in 2017. How long she has been living in India remains unclear, he added.
Narayana further said, "We have arranged her stay in an ashram, run by a Sadhvi. We have initiated the process to take her to Bengaluru from Gokarna and begin the deportation process."
With the help of a local NGO, the Russian Embassy was contacted and formalities were set in motion to deport her.

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Dhaka (PTI): A Bangladesh court on Monday sentenced deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to 10 years in jail in two separate corruption cases related to alleged irregularities in allocations of land in a government housing project.
Dhaka Special Judge’s Court-4 Judge Rabiul Alam handed down the verdicts, sentencing Hasina to a total of 10 years’ imprisonment — five years in each case, state-run BSS news agency reported.
The court sentenced 78-year-old Hasina, her nephew Radwan Mujib Siddiq, and her nieces, Tulip Rizwana Siddiq and Azmina Siddiq, and others in the cases over alleged irregularities in the allocation of plots under the Rajuk New Town Project in Purbachol.
The judgment was pronounced at around 12.30 pm.
Tulip Siddiq was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment — two years in each case — while Radwan Mujib Siddiq and Azmina Siddiq were each sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment in both cases.
Rajuk member Mohammad Khurshid Alam, the only accused to surrender before the court, was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment in each case, totalling two years.
The court also fined all convicted persons Tk1 lakh each and ordered them to serve an additional six months in prison in default of payment.
Hasina has been living in India since she fled Bangladesh on August 5 last year in the face of the massive protests. She was earlier declared a fugitive by the court.
The cases were filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over alleged abuse of power in the allocation of two 10-katha plots.
According to the prosecution, the accused manipulated the allocation process and violated existing rules and regulations of the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk).
