‘He waited till evening’: Israeli partner of Russian woman rescued from Karnataka cave ‘not allowed to meet children’

The children’s father, 38-year-old Dror Goldstein, an Israeli national, has sought their shared custody and urged authorities not to deport his daughters to Russia along with their mother.

Goldstein, communicating via his lawyer, said he was unable to meet his daughters on Thursday when he visited the detention centre in Karnataka’s Tumakuru district, where Nina and their girls are lodged.

He said he went from Bengaluru to Tumakuru and waited at the detention centre.

Beena Pillai, the lawyer representing Goldstein, told The Indian Express, “He waited there from morning till evening. The authorities told him to get permission from the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), and he wrote an email to the FRRO requesting permission to meet his daughters. We received a reply saying Nina does not want to meet him, so they cannot give permission.”

“He just wants to meet his children. After that, everyone can possibly work out an amicable settlement,” Pillai said, adding that Goldstein has now returned to Bengaluru.

According to a missing person complaint lodged by Goldstein at Goa’s Panaji police station on December 14, 2024, he met Nina in October 2017 at Arambol during a visit to Goa, following which they “fell in love”.

In the police complaint, Goldstein had recounted their long association and periods of bitterness and separation over the past eight years. He claimed that in recent years, as he made frequent visits to Goa, she “started avoiding” him and had been keeping his daughters away from him, and “would disappear without informing for days”.

“She (Nina) had shown no concern towards their formal education… She was totally against sending her children to school or other educational institutions, and whenever asked, she would say that she doesn’t believe in formal education,” he claimed.

“I am concerned for the health and emotional well-being of my daughters. They are not in school and spend all their time with their mother and her few friends, and not in the company of children of their age. They are not allowed to socialise and are kept in a closed group… I want to be a part of my daughters’ lives and provide for them financially and emotionally… I am filing this missing complaint to know about the exact whereabouts, location and condition of my minor daughters,” he had said in the complaint.