A startup founder and CEO, Suchana Seth (39) was apprehended in Karnataka on Monday under distressing circumstances. Media reports revealed she was found traveling in a taxi with the body of her four-year-old son concealed inside a bag. Allegedly, she took her son's life, supposedly to prevent her estranged husband meeting him.
The incident unfolded while Seth was traveling from Goa to Bengaluru by road. Reportedly, Seth had checked out from a service apartment named 'Sol Banyan Grande' in North Goa's Candolim earlier that morning, intending to return to Bengaluru via road.
The staff alerted the police after discovering bloodstains in the apartment where Seth and her son had stayed, prompting concern. Subsequently, upon reviewing CCTV footage, Goa police noted Seth's departure from the building without her son, as relayed by senior North Goa police officer Nidhin Valsan. Upon contacting the taxi driver, Paresh Naik, an inspector from Goa's Calangute police station, communicated with Seth via phone. Allegedly, she informed them that she had entrusted her son to a friend. However, investigations revealed the friend's address provided by Seth to be false.
Subsequently, the authorities contacted the taxi driver once more and directed him to drive to the nearest police station. By that time, they had already crossed into Karnataka's Chitradurga district from Goa. At the Chitradurga police station, officers checked the woman's bag based on the prior alert from the Goa Police and found the body of her young son inside.
She was handed over to the custody of Goa Police for six days and later taken to Panaji for a medical examination.
Reportedly, Seth had checked into a service apartment in Goa last week and despite suggestions from staff to opt for a cheaper flight to Bengaluru, she insisted on traveling by road. Consequently, the staff arranged a taxi for her.
"The accused claimed that the blood stains were due to her menstrual cycle. She also provided us with an address in Margao town (in South Goa) where she said her son was with a friend," Naik stated, as quoted by the news agency.
As per Seth's LinkedIn profile, she holds the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at startup Mindful AI Lab and was recognised among the top "100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics for 2021".