10 months ago
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Suchana Seth, the Bengaluru woman accused of murdering her four-year-old son 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 him 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.
Court documents accessed by NDTV show Ms Seth had submitted copies of WhatsApp messages and pictures, as well as medical records, to substantiate her claim of domestic abuse.
Mr Raman, who was in Indonesia when the alleged murder took place, had denied the domestic violence charges. However, under the terms of the restraining order, he had been barred from entering his wife's home or communicating, either by phone or social media, with her or the child.
From September, he was told to pay "interim maintenance" of Rs 20,000 per month.
The father, though, was reportedly also given weekly visitation rights - every Sunday - and that upset Ms Seth, 39. Police have speculated that this court order may have been why she killed her child.
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The domestic violence case was last heard on December 12 - over three weeks before Ms Seth and her son checked into a service apartment in north Goa's Candolim, where she carried out what police now say was a "premeditated" murder - based on the discovery of empty cough syrup bottles.
The court had then adjourned the matter to January 29.
Ms Seth and Mr Raman were wed in November 2010, and their son was born in August 2019. Ms Seth reportedly told the court she had been living apart from her husband since March 2021.
How Suchana Seth Was Caught
Ms Seth was caught Tuesday fleeing with her son's body stuffed in a brown bag.
She was arrested in Karnataka's Chitradurga. This was after staff at the Goa service apartment found a bloodstained towel while cleaning her room and alerted the police. The cops contacted the driver of the taxi Ms Seth was taking to Bengaluru and, discreetly, directed him to the nearest police station.
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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 Ms 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 cops believe she may have given the child a heavy dose of the medicine, making him drowsy, and then smothered him with a pillow or bed sheet.
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The post-mortem had indicated the boy may have been smothered.
Suchana Seth - who may have tried to die by suicide after allegedly killing her son, since her wrist was found to have been slashed - has been charged with murder.
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