PANAJI
Having attempted to mislead the police during the investigation, AI ethics expert and data scientist Suchana Seth “ the murder accused “ has squarely blamed the Family Court Judge in Karnataka and her estranged husband, Venkat Raman, of threatening her with imprisonment if she didn't allow her son to meet his father.
Currently in judicial custody, Seth claims that her lawyer too failed to find a legal recourse to prevent the meeting between them.
These revelations surfaced in a detailed 650-odd-page chargesheet filed by the Calangute police before the local Court. The charge sheet elaborated on how forensic experts meticulously reconstructed torn tissue paper found in the tourist car, which was hired by the accused to escape to her hometown after allegedly killing her son at Candolim on January 7. This tissue napkin was found next to the trolley luggage bag which had her son’s body concealed in it.
The note, subsequently collected for forensic examination, mentioned that the victim-child did not want to go to Venkat Raman. “My son begged me not to send him to my violent abusive ex-husband. My ex-husband and the family court judge are threatening to send me to jail if I don’t send my 4-year-old son against his will. My lawyer can’t find a way to keep my son safe. I can’t bear this,” reads the note purportedly written by Seth.
The crumpled napkin also contained blood stains, reportedly that of the accused as she allegedly tried to harm herself after committing the murder.
The Forensic Science Laboratory report is awaited to match the handwriting on the note with the handwriting sample of the accused, as well as the blood samples on the napkin.
According to the Family Court’s order dated December 9, 2022, Venkat Raman was allowed to make video calls every Tuesday and Thursday from 7 pm to 7.30 pm. Following another court order dated April 10, 2023, he was allowed to meet his son at the Family Court Visitation Center every second Saturday from 11 am to 1 pm, but the accused did not allow the meeting to happen ‘by giving one or other excuses.’
The Calangute police have recorded statements of 59 witnesses in the charge sheet and particularly noted that the woman tried to mislead the investigation and conceal her criminal act stating that she had left her minor son with her friend in Margao.
Seth is accused of smothering her child to death after giving him an overdose of cough syrup and then stacking his body in the trolley bag. The excessively heavy bag was kept in the trunk of a taxi she hired at Rs 30,000 to escape from Goa to Bengaluru, before her arrest following coordination between Goa police, Karnataka police and the taxi driver.
Seth has denied killing her son while blaming her estranged husband for the consequences. Seth has so far not applied for bail.
