Supreme Court grills father of Russian kids staying in cave: Top Court asks, 'Why were you in Goa?'

The court questioned his right to stay in India and asked him to produce documents proving his relationship with the children.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi expressed concern over the man’s presence in Goa while his alleged daughters and their mother were living in a cave.

"What are you doing in Goa when your daughters and their mother are living in a forest cave in Karnataka? Do you even have valid documents to stay in India?" the bench asked.

The bench further remarked, "This country has now become such a safe haven where anyone can come and live."

The case stems from a July 11 incident, when 40-year-old Russian woman Nina Kutina and her two daughters were rescued during a routine police patrol in the Ramateertha Hills forest of Kumta taluk, Karnataka.

The family had been living without valid travel documents and was subsequently sent to a detention centre.

On September 26, the Karnataka High Court directed the Centre to issue travel documents to repatriate Kutina and her daughters to Russia, noting that the woman herself had written to the Russian Embassy expressing her wish to return home. The court held that it was in the children’s best interest to accompany their mother.

Challenging that order, Israeli citizen Dor Shlomo Goldstein filed a petition in the Supreme Court, claiming he is the father of the two girls.

However, the apex court asked him to furnish proof of his paternity and questioned his legal status in India.

"Who are you, what is your right? Show any official document stating you are the father of the girls. Why shouldn’t we order your deportation?" Justice Surya Kant asked.

Kutina has refuted Goldstein’s claims, saying, "He is not my husband, nor is he the father of my children. We know each other, but he is harassing me and my daughters.

He should stop interfering in our lives." She alleged that Goldstein, the son of wealthy parents, was trying to control her family through his influence.

Police investigations revealed that Kutina arrived in India on a business visa in 2016, which expired nearly eight years ago, and had been staying illegally since then.