'No goodbye, no explanation:' Russian woman alleges husband fake death, left her stranded in India

Olga stated that difficulties began in November 2023, when she applied for a spousal visa.

A Russian national has shared a detailed account of the collapse of her marriage in India, alleging abandonment, financial hardship and ongoing legal difficulties that she says have prevented her from returning to her home country. Her statement, published on the social media platform Humans of Bombay, has prompted significant reactions online, with many users expressing support.

Olga, who says she moved to India in 2015 to pursue doctoral studies, wrote that her relationship with the man who later became her husband began a year earlier. According to her statement, the relationship developed quickly and the couple married in 2019.

In the post, she reflected on her decision to relocate permanently, writing: “I came to India for love. I never imagined that same love would become the cage I’m still trying to escape. I’m from Russia, and in 2015 I arrived in India to pursue my PhD, excited and hopeful for a new beginning. I had already met him the year before, and falling in love with him felt natural, effortless. By 2019, we were married. I told myself, ‘This is it. India is home now. He is home.’”

She stated that difficulties began in November 2023, when she applied for a spousal visa. She said her husband was required to attend an interview as part of the process but did not do so. She wrote: “For years, everything felt right — until November 2023. I applied for my spousal visa; all he had to do was attend a single interview. Instead, two months later, in January 2024, he disappeared. No goodbye. No explanation. Nothing.”

Olga said she reported him missing and remained in contact with the authorities for several months. “I filed a missing-person report. For six months, I answered every police question, waited for every call, and lived with the fear that he might be dead,” she wrote.

She added that she faced financial and personal strain during this period, stating: “I had no money, no family here, and the friends who tried to help me suffered consequences — some were even forced out of their homes. And because my visa was stuck, I couldn’t leave India. I was trapped in every possible way.”

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According to her account, she later discovered through social media that her husband was alive. “Then July came. Scrolling through Instagram, I saw him — alive. Dressed as a Sadhu. Smiling. Leading tourists in the hills as if the world he left behind didn’t exist,” she wrote. “My hands were shaking. He knew I thought he was dead. He knew what I was going through. And he simply walked away from it.”

She said he eventually re-established contact and apologised. “When he finally returned, he held my hands and said, ‘I’m sorry. I love you. I made a mistake.’ I wanted to believe him so badly that I did,” she wrote.

Olga stated that she subsequently accepted employment in Himachal Pradesh and that her husband joined her there in December. “I thought we were rebuilding,” she said. However, she alleged that he was not residing with her but was instead staying with another woman nearby. “But he wasn’t staying with me — he was living with another woman just 15 kilometres away. For six months I sent him money, cooked for him on weekends, and held on to a marriage he had already left.”

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She further claimed that, after she confronted him, he contacted her employer. “When I confronted him, he didn’t deny it. Instead, he called my boss and told them I was mentally unstable. He and his girlfriend wanted me fired, broken, erased.”

In a subsequent update shared online, Olga said she had been scheduled to travel back to Russia but was prevented from boarding her flight. She alleged that a complaint filed by her husband led to her being removed from the aircraft. She maintains that she remains in India while pursuing legal remedies and attempting to resolve her situation.