Bengaluru, India – When Venkat Raman, the estranged husband of Bengaluru-based CEO Suchana Seth, had a video call with his four-year-old son from Indonesia on January 7, little did he know it would be their last conversation. Shortly after, the boy was allegedly murdered in a service apartment in Goa, leading to the arrest of Seth in Karnataka’s Chitradurga.
The couple, who had been married for 10 years, filed for divorce in 2020. Despite their separation, a court had granted Raman permission to meet his son on Sundays. However, tragedy struck when Seth was found with a bag containing her son’s body after checking out from ‘Sol Banyan Grande’ in North Goa’s Candolim.
Police suspect the murder was premeditated, as empty cough syrup bottles were found in Seth’s room. Dr. Kumar Naik of Hiriyur Taluk Hospital suggested that the boy was smothered with a cloth or a pillow, showing no signs of blood loss or struggle marks on his body.
Seth, a 39-year-old entrepreneur, has been detained in police custody for six days after being arrested while en route to Bengaluru. Police believe she killed her son to prevent her estranged husband, who was abroad at the time, from meeting him.
Seth, an AI ethics expert and data scientist with over 12 years of experience, is an alumnus of the University of Calcutta and has been a research fellow at the Raman Research Institute and the Berkman Klein Centre at Harvard University. The service apartment building in North Goa has restricted entry for outsiders following the incident.
In conclusion, Suchana Seth’s arrest in connection with the alleged murder of her four-year-old son has shaken the community. The tragic event has raised important questions about the mental health and well-being of individuals, especially in the context of family separations and the impact they can have on those involved.