Goa court to commence trial of Suchana Seth, accused of killing son, on June 14
The Goa Police have named 59 witnesses in the case and have also recorded the statement of Suchna Seth’s husband who said that despite orders from the Bangalore family court, she had not allowed him to meet their son giving one or the other reasons
The Goa children’s court on Tuesday fixed the trial of Suchana Seth, the chief executive officer (CEO) of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) startup who is accused of murdering her four-year-old son at a hotel in the coastal state in January this year, for June 14.
The Goa Police had filed a chargesheet against Seth under sections 302 (murder) and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 8 of the Goa Children’s Act.
Speaking to HT, defence advocate Franco, who represented Seth, said the defence would examine the charge sheet before deciding further steps.
“We have received a copy of the chargesheet today and will examine it in detail before deciding the future course of action. The case has been fixed for trial on June 14,” Franco said.
Police in the charge sheet have said that their investigation has revealed that Seth killed her minor son by strangulation at a hotel room at Candolim-Goa, further packed his dead body in a trolley luggage bag and travelled from Candolim towards Bengaluru in a hired taxi with the dead body in the trolley luggage bag.
The report of the viscera that police received has revealed that there was no “common poison” found in the samples of vital organs that were sent for examination. The cause of death was recorded as death due to strangulation.
Police also recorded the statement of her husband Venkatraman P R who told police that despite orders from the Bangalore family court, Seth was “not allowing (him) to meet his son giving one or the other reasons.”
Police have also recovered a note, scribbled on a tissue paper using an eyeliner, that was found torn and crumpled in a garbage bag in her luggage that stated: “My son begged me not to send him to my violent abusive ex-husband. My ex-husband & family court judge are threatening to send me to jail if I don’t send my four years old son against his will. My lawyer can’t find a way to keep my son safe. I can’t bear this.”
Seth, the founder and CEO of The Mindful AI Lab, an artificial intelligence consultancy, allegedly murdered her four-year-old son in a Goa hotel on the night of January 7-8.
The hotel staff, who had spotted bloodstains in the room and noticed her leaving alone after having checked in with her son the previous day, informed police about it. The Goa police officers then contacted the driver of the Toyota Innova she had hurriedly arranged, spoke to him in Konkani, and told him to drive to the nearest police station. Thus, they nabbed her in Karnataka’s Chitradurga district, around 160 km from Bengaluru.
The Goa Police have named 59 witnesses in the case.
