Amrutha Avasarala, Pune
Goa Children’s Court has extended Suchana Seth’s remand by 5 days on Monday, 15th January 2024. The extension was requested by Calangute Police to complete their investigation.
Suchana Seth, a Bangalore based AI startup CEO is accused of smothering her son to death with the help of a pillow. The incident supposedly happened in a service apartment in North Goa on the 8th of January, 2024. The staff shared that her booking was scheduled from 6th to 10th of January but the Suchana had checked out on the 8th on an emergency basis and requested them to arrange for a cab to Bangalore. Speculations arose when blood was found on the floor post her checkout and reached out to the police. It was then that the woman checked in with her son and left alone. The cab driver was alerted and also, he realized then that her bag was usually heavy and the woman was strictly insisting on going to bangalore only in a cab which further widened the existing speculations. The driver, John, was asked to drive to the nearest police station of Chitrdurga district in Karnataka where the police found Suchana’s 4-year-old son’s body stuffed in her suitcase.
She was then sent back to Goa to proceed with the case for her being the prime suspect. Suchana was taken into custody and remanded by a court in the town of Mapusa.
On being interrogated, she first denied killing her son and said that she found him dead after he went to sleep. Later, she also said to the police that she attempted to take her life by slitting her left wrist.
On further enquiry, the police found out that Suchana had issues with her husband, Venkat Raman. The couple filed for a divorce in 2018 whose proceedings are still underway. In regard to the custody of their child, the court has allowed the 4-year-old boy to meet his father on weekends. Unhappy with this hearing, Suchana made sure she traveled every weekend to keep them away from each other. She later mentioned that she ended her son’s life to prevent him from meeting her husband.
There are numerous unaddressed questions of the real reason for a mother to take this drastic step and how she could end her son’s life when she was very possessive about him.
For further investigation, Suchana’s remand has been extended for five more days. The case now lies under the purview of Goa’s court for children and Calangute Police Station.