Strained relations and a potential custody battle may have led a Bengaluru-based CEO of a start-up to allegedly murder her four-year-old son at a hotel in Goa, the state police said on Tuesday. According to police, Suchana Seth was caught from Karnataka’s Chitradurga district while trying to flee in a cab with her son’s body stuffed in a bag.
“Prima facie, during questioning, the woman said she had strained relations with her husband and their divorce proceedings are underway… that there was some court order, because of which she was very unhappy. We have not seen the court order. She said she was separated. We have to verify all this… the motive is still not confirmed,” North Goa Superintendent of Police Nidhin Valsan said.
An officer said that “as per a recent court order, her husband was supposed to get custody of the child on Sundays, though all of this is being verified”.
According to investigators, during initial questioning, the woman denied killing her son, claiming she did not know what happened to him or how he died.
Police said that on January 6, Seth, a resident of Thanisandra in Bengaluru, made an online booking through AirBnB and checked into a service apartment at Hotel Sol Banyan Grande in North Goa’s Candolim with her son. On the night of January 7, around 1 am, Seth told the hotel staff that she was checking out and requested the staff to arrange a cab to take her to Bengaluru.
SP Valsan, said, “The hotel staff advised her to take a flight to Bengaluru, since the cab fare would be too expensive, but she insisted on a cab. The taxi (Innova) was arranged by the hotel staff and she checked out of the hotel around 1.30 am with her luggage.”
Police said that on Monday, around 10 am, when the hotel staff went to clean the service apartment, they noticed bloodstains on the floor and immediately informed Calangute police. The hotel staff told the police that the woman’s son was not accompanying her when she left the hotel.
“The police inspector from Calangute police station contacted the taxi driver and spoke to him and the woman over the phone. When the inspector enquired about the whereabouts of her son, she claimed she had left her son at a friend’s house in Margao and shared an address of the house. The police inspector contacted the in charge of Fatorda police station and asked him to enquire at the address,” said SP Valsan.
“That address was found fake, which raised suspicion. So, the police inspector called the cab driver again. This time, speaking to him in Konkani, the police asked him to discreetly drive to the nearest police station. The taxi driver drove to Aimangla police station in Chitradurga district of Karnataka. When Karnataka police checked her suitcase, her son’s body was found stuffed inside,” said SP Valsan.
The woman was taken into custody and a Goa police team reached Chitradurga late Monday night. After taking her on transit-remand, she was brought to Goa, where she will be produced in a court in Mapusa on Tuesday afternoon.
A police officer said, “The taxi driver had charged Rs 30,000 for the trip to Bengaluru. He told the police that when he picked up her luggage, he felt that the suitcase was unusually heavy, but didn’t think much of it.”
“Some bloodstains were found in the hotel apartment. The body has been preserved at a morgue in the district in Karnataka. After the post-mortem, the cause of death and further details will be known,” added SP Valsan.
Police said the woman’s husband is in Indonesia and has been asked to come to Goa for questioning.
On the complaint of the hotel supervisor, Goa police have registered an FIR against Seth under IPC sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) and section 8 of The Goa Children’s Act.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
First uploaded on: 09-01-2024 at 14:58 IST
