A 39-year-old chief executive officer of a start-up company allegedly killed her four-year-old son in Goa, and then travelled with the body to neighbouring Karnataka, a police official said on January 9.
Goa police arrested the accused, Suchana Seth, at Chitradurga in Karnataka on January 8, he said, adding the motive behind the killing is not known.
CEO of The Mindful AI Lab
According to Seth’s LinkedIn page, she is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of start-up The Mindful AI Lab, and was among the top ‘100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics for 2021’.
She checked into a rented service apartment at Candolim in north Goa on January 6 along with her son, Calangute police station Inspector Paresh Naik said.
After staying there for two days, she informed the apartment staff that she wanted to go to Bengaluru for some work and asked them to arrange for a taxi.
“The staff suggested that she could take a flight to Bengaluru, which would be a cheaper option rather than hiring a taxi, which is an expensive proposition,” he said.
The accused insisted that she would travel by taxi. Accordingly, a taxi was arranged on January 8, in which she left early morning.
Blood stains raise suspicions
Later, when the apartment staff went to clean the room in which she stayed, they found blood stains on a towel, Mr. Naik said.
“The management of the apartment immediately informed the Calangute police, who then reached the spot,” he said.
The staff also informed that the woman’s four-year-old son was not seen with her when she left the apartment, and she was also carrying an unusually heavy bag, he said.
The police called Suchana Seth and enquired about the blood stains and her son.
“Suchana Seth told us that the blood stains were due to her monthly periods. She also told us that her son was with her friend in Margao [in south Goa], and provided the address,” the official said.
Mr. Naik immediately took the help of Fatorda police (near Margao), and got to know that the address given by Suchana Seth was fake.
The Inspector later spoke over phone to the taxi driver, who was on the way to Bengaluru and had reached Chitradurga district in Karnataka, and instructed him to take the accused to the nearest police station.
Detained in Chitradurga
The Ayamangala Police in Hiriyur taluk of Chitradurga district detained her following a request by the Goa police on January 8 afternoon.
Dharmender Kumar Meena, Chitradurga SP, told The Hindu, that the taxi driver, following the instructions of the Goa police, drove to the police station at Ayamangala. “We detained her briefly. As per request by Goa police, we searched the vehicle and found the dead body of the child. We kept her in our custody, until the Goa police reached and took her,” he said.
A team of Calangute police rushed to Chitradurga, presented Suchana Seth before the magistrate in Hiriyur and obtained a transit remand. She was later taken to Goa.
The post-mortem of the body would be conducted at Hiriyur in Chitradurga, Mr. Naik said. A team of Goa police are in the taluk to complete the procedures.
Police have informed Venkat Raman, who is the husband of Suchana Seth and is currently in Jakarta (Indonesia), he said.
(With inputs from Sathish G.T.)
