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Suchana Seth, accused of killing son, alleged domestic violence by husband; wanted 2.5 lakh alimony

by Trans World Features | @twfindia 10 Jan 2024, 11:58 pm

New Delhi: Suchana Seth, the Bengaluru woman accused of murdering her four-year-old son in Goa amid a bitter divorce battle with her husband, PR Venkat Raman, had filed domestic violence charges in August, and was issued a restraining order.

She had accused her husband of physically abusing the child and herself and sought Rs. 2.5 lakh per month in alimony, claiming he has an annual income of over Rs. 1 crore, reports said.

According to reports, Seth, 39, who was the founder of artificial intelligence start-up Mindful AI Labs, had submitted copies of WhatsApp messages and pictures, as well as medical records, to substantiate her claim of domestic abuse.

Raman, who was in Indonesia when the alleged murder took place, had denied the domestic violence charges.

However, as per the terms of the restraining order, he had been prohibited from entering his wife's home or communicating, either by phone or social media, with her or the child.

The father, though, was reportedly also given weekly visitation rights - every Sunday - and that upset Seth, 39. Police have speculated that this court order may have been why she killed her child.

Police arrested Seth from Karnataka’s Chitradurga district, nearly 400 km away from the Goa hotel, where the crime was allegedly committed, with the body of her four-year-old stuffed into one of her luggage.

The doctor, who conducted the post-mortem of the four-year-old child, said a towel or a pillow was used to strangulate the minor.

She told police she had no idea how the child had died, declaring she found him dead after a nap.

Goa Police, who have been given custody of Seth for six days, are, so far, not convinced by her explanations, given the bloodstained towel (which she claimed was menstrual bleeding) and empty bottles of cough syrup in her room.

The domestic violence case was last heard on Dec 12 - over three weeks before Seth and her son checked into a service apartment in north Goa's Candolim.

The court had then adjourned the matter to January 29.

The couple got married in November 2010, and their son was born in August 2019.

Seth reportedly told the court she had been living apart from her husband since March 2021.