Indian start-up CEO Suchana Seth may have smothered her son with pillow, hints autopsy

An Indian start-up founder Suchana Seth's four-year-old son was most probably smothered with a pillow and died ofsuffocation, said the doctors of Hiriyur Hospital, after the body's postmortem was conducted and the results of the preliminary examination came out.

The boy, who was killed in Goa, was shifted to the Hiriyur Hospital mortuary after his father came back from Indonesia. The police arrested the mother of the child on charges of murder who hasbeen in police custody for questioning.

"The child was smothered," said Dr Kumar Naik, who conducted the postmortem, told the media.

"He could have probably died after being suffocated by a pillow or some other object. The child doesn't seem like he was killed by strangulation using his hands. The killing took place over 36 hours ago. His face and chest are swollen due to suffocation. And the child's nose was bleeding," he added.

The 39-year-old CEO of an AI start-up was caught in Chitradurga town of the Indian state of Karnataka on Monday night (Jan 8) when she was travelling with the body of her son packed in a bag.

CEO appeared unhappy after court permitted husband to meet son: police

North Goa's Superintendent of Police Nidhin Valsan on Tuesday (Jan 10) said that the accused woman appeared unhappy with the recent order given by the court which permitted her husband to spend time with their son on Sunday.

"Goa court remands mother to six-day police custody. The father identified the boy and he said that they got married in 2010 and their divorce proceedings started in 2022. Recently, the court issued an order to spend time with the father on Sunday. During interrogation with our investigating officers, the accused woman seemed to be unhappy with the court order," said SP Valsan, while speaking to ANI.

Watch:Bengaluru CEO Suchana Seth charged with the murder of 4-year-old son in Goa

"A woman asked the hotel staff to arrange a taxi for Bengaluru. After the checkout, 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," added Nidhin Valsan, Superintendent of Police, North Goa.

The police added that the woman is likely to have murdered her son in a service apartment in Goa's Candolim after they checked in on January 6. The woman then tried committing suicide by slashing her wrist, said the police.

The police have yet not found the motive behind the murder. They said that Suchana Seth was divorcing her husband and the couple had not parted on amicable terms.

(With inputs from agencies)