Suchana Seth: B'luru Woman Jailed For Son's Murder, Booked For Assaulting Cop

Suchana Seth, who was arrested for the murder of her four-year-old son at a Goa hotel in January 2024, is now facing charges of assaulting a constable at the Colvale Jail. Police said that the ‘fight’ with the lady police constable began after Seth “took the inward register of ladies prisoner block without permission" and when she was questioned about it, she abused the cop “with filthy words and further pushed and assaulted her with kicks and pulled her hair, thereby causing her bodily injuries.”

Seth has been booked under section 121 (1) (voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt to deter a public servant from his/her duty) and section 352 (intentional insult with the intention to provoke) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, the police said. The 40-year-old was arrested in 2024 for killing her son in a hotel room in Goa, allegedly over a bitter custody battle with her ex-husband. She was caught in Chitradurga, Karnataka, escaping with her son's body concealed in a bag.

Suchana Seth Case

As per reports, she checked into a hotel in Goa with her son on January 6, 2024, but checked out three days later alone with a suitcase. While checking out, she asked the hotel staff to book a taxi for her to Bengaluru. Even though the staff suggested that she should take a flight, she insisted on booking the taxi.

The staff had noticed that her son was missing, which made him suspect her. He informed his manager immediately. After Seth left, the staff found stains of blood in her apartment. This confirmed his doubt. The staff and the manager called the police immediately. 

The police connected with the taxi driver who was driving Seth to Bengaluru. They asked the driver to connect with Seth on call. When the police asked her about her son, Seth said that he was with a friend and gave them an address. However, the address turned out to be fake. 

The police again called up the driver and spoke in Konkani so that Seth wouldn't get suspicious. The police asked the driver to turn the car towards the nearest police station, which was in Chitradurga. The police's attempt was successful, as Seth was caught at Chitradurga police station. There, they found her son's body packed up in her suitcase. The motive behind the murder is still unknown. 

“She initially told the police she had left her son with a relative in South Goa, but the story didn’t check out. We called the cab driver and asked him to report to the nearest police station. She was nabbed with the help of the Karnataka Police in the Chitradurga district while on the way to Bengaluru,” the officer at the Calangute Police Station said.

Goa Police Take Action

The Goa police filed a 642-page charge sheet against Suchana Seth, revealing chilling details stating that the child died as a result of shock and asphyxiation. Police also found a note allegedly written by Seth in one of her bags, which stated that she had committed the heinous crime as she was unhappy with a court order permitting her ex-husband, PR Venkat Raman, to spend time with the child the coming weekend.

The argument of her mental fitness was long contended until a medical report revealed that Seth's "judgment is intact and no psychotic or pervasive mood symptoms were elicited in responses," police said. Coming to her defence, Seth's father had earlier submitted an application to the court in January stating that she was suffering from a mental illness and that police should get her psychological health assessed. However, the exam conducted at Panaji's Institute of Psychology and Human Behaviour in early February 2024 revealed that he did not show any signs of mental illness.