Last rites of four-year-old killed by mother performed in City

BENGALURU: The last rites of four-year-old Chinmay, who was killed by his mother Suchana Seth, founder and CEO of a startup in Bengaluru, were performed by the father Venkataraman and family members at Harishchandraghat on Wednesday.

The founder and CEO of Mindful AI Lab company in Bengaluru, Suchana Seth, was arrested for murdering her four-year-old son at a service apartment in Goa on Tuesday. She was caught in Chitradurga district while trying to flee in a cab with her son’s body stuffed in a bag. A post-mortem examination of the child was conducted at Hiriyur government taluk hospital.

Later, the body of the child was sent from Aimangala police station to Bengaluru at 1.45 am on Wednesday. The body was taken from the residence at Brigade Gateway Residency near Yeshwantpur on Wednesday and cremated at Harishchandra Ghat in Rajajinagar.

The couple had a domestic dispute and their relationship had gone sour. Later, they applied for divorce and a court had directed Suchana to allow the child to be with the father Venkataramana once a week and be in touch through video calls. It was revealed during preliminary investigation that Suchana killed the child as she did not want her estranged husband to meet him.

Suchana admitted to the crime and said their divorce case was in the final stages and the court had allowed the estranged husband access to the child on Sundays. However, she did not want Venkataraman to meet the child. She took Chinmay to Goa, administered excessive dose of cough syrup to make him unconscious and then smothered his face with a pillow. She thought the child was unconscious, but he had died. After realising this, she attempted suicide by cutting veins in her hand, but it was not possible. She didn’t know what to do in panic and tried to run away by stuffing his body in a suitcase, police sources said.

Suchana asked the service apartment staff to hire a taxi for Bengaluru. She insisted on a taxi even though they suggested that flights would be cheaper. After she checked out, when the hotel staff went to clean the room, they found red-coloured stains which they assumed to be blood. The staff immediately informed the police, North Goa police said.

The police reached the hotel and when they did not find the child there, they tried to contact the woman through the taxi driver. The police inquired about the woman’s son, and she said that the child was staying at a friend’s place in Mormugao. However, the police found the given address was fake.

The taxi driver was again contacted and asked to take the car to the nearest police station. On checking the luggage, the Aimangala police found the body of the boy in the boot of the MUV.  An FIR has been registered by the Goa police and a Goa court has remanded the accused Suchana Seth to six days in police custody.