Minutes after recording his statement at Calangute police station in Goa on Saturday evening, Venkatraman PR, the estranged husband of Suchana Seth, allegedly confronted her and asked why she killed their child, officers present at the station said.
Seth, a Bengaluru-based CEO of a tech-start-up, is accused of allegedly murdering their four-year-old son in a Goa hotel and then trying to flee with the body to Karnataka.
According to police sources, Seth is learnt to have replied that she did not commit the crime, and instead held her estranged husband responsible for the circumstances leading to the incident.
A police officer, requesting anonymity, said, “He vented his anger and asked her ‘Why did you do this?’ She replied, ‘I did not commit the crime’. There was a brief verbal argument, where both blamed each other.”
On Saturday afternoon, Venkat arrived in Goa, accompanied by his lawyer, to record his statement before the police. Police said that in his statement, recorded over four hours, officers enquired about the couple’s relationship and details of their divorce proceedings, which started six months ago.
On the brief confrontation between the couple at the police station, Venkatraman’s advocate, Azhar Meer, refused to comment, saying that “some things are said… for catharsis”.
Meer said it was “meaningless” for his client to enquire “why” his son was killed, saying they could only, at best, guess the possible reason. Over the last one year, the family court in Bengaluru – where the child’s custody case was ongoing – had incrementally given orders in favour of his client, he said.
“Venkatraman is not interested in ‘why’. His son is gone and why his wife did this, it does not matter (to him)… Maybe she did not want their son to meet his father or that they develop good relations. That is why the cases were filed,” said Meer.
“First, the court had granted permission to Venkatraman to speak to his son over the phone and video calls. And later, the court allowed him to meet his son once a fortnight in the court’s public area. In the recent order on November 20, 2023, the court had allowed him to meet his son once a week (on Sunday) from morning to evening. Maybe she was upset that in a case where she felt she is the victim, the court had been passing orders in favour of the father…,” he said.
Venkatraman last met his son on December 10 and for the past four weeks, she had not been allowing her son to meet his father, said Meer.
“Multiple requests had been made to her to comply with the court’s order, but she refused. On January 6, a day before the alleged murder, Suchana had emailed Venkatraman asking him to pick up their son at a specified location in Bengaluru on January 7. He went there at 10 am and waited for an hour. He sent WhatsApp texts and emails, saying he is waiting and enquired if everything was okay. When no response was received, he left for Jakarta for a one-week work trip that night,” said Meer.
He said there was no point in filing any complaint or appealing for justice.
“Bache ko kya justice milega? Maybe as a society, we will say there should be justice. But… jo gaya wo wapas nahi aane wala… It does not matter who wins or loses. The child is always at a loss in this. I don’t think he (Venkatraman) cares what happens after his. Whether Suchana goes to jail or she gets bail or she is convicted or not,” he said.
On claims that Venkatraman had been harassing his wife, Meer said, “This is all false. We don’t know what happened between them. The case was being argued in court. But, even if we believe that there was harassment, what was the fault of the child? What was the need to vent out the anger on the child?”
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
First uploaded on: 13-01-2024 at 22:55 IST
