Suchana Seth, CEO of Bengaluru-based The Mindful AI Lab, who is accused of killing her son, being brought to Mapusa Court in North Goa, Tuesday, Jan 9, 2024.
Credit: PTI Photo
The body of a four-year-old boy who was allegedly killed by his mother Suchana Seth, the CEO of an AI start-up, was handed over to the accused's estranged husband following a post-mortem late on Tuesday.
Venkat Raman, the father of the boy, arrived from Indonesia to Hiriyur in Karnataka, where he consented to the deceased child's post-mortem.
Following the post-mortem, a doctor from the taluk general hospital in Hiriyur told reporters that the child may was killed approximately 36 hours ago and that he had likely been smothered with a pillow. On blood stains found following the alleged murder, the doctor said there may have been blood discharge from the nose and mouth of the victim, as there were no visible injury marks on the body.
The child was allegedly smothered to death by his mother. The incident took place in a service apartment at Candolim in North Goa between January 6 and 8, police said.
The accused had checked into a service apartment with her son on January 6. After staying there for two days, she left for Bengaluru in a taxi on January 8 morning. When the apartment staff went to clean the room in which she stayed, they found blood stains on a towel. The staff immediately informed the police and told them that she carried an unusually heavy bag, and her son was not seen with her, officials said.
The police in Goa contacted their counterparts in Chitradurga, who checked the woman's bag in which they found the body of the child. She was arrested there and later brought to Goa, where a court remanded her in police custody for six days, they said.
A senior police official said, "Raman, who was in Jakarta (Indonesia), was informed about the incident by the police and subsequently returned to India. Upon his arrival in Chitradurga in the evening, he provided consent for a post-mortem." Initial investigations by the police indicate that the woman allegedly smothered her son to death before attempting suicide by slashing her wrist. The unfolding details paint a tragic and distressing picture of the events leading to the child's death.
(With PTI inputs)