The Chief Executive Officer of an artificial intelligence startup based in India, Suchana Seth, has been detained in connection with the alleged murder of her son, four years old, whose remains were found in her luggage, according to multiple reports.
Seth, the head of The Mindful AI Lab, was taken into custody in the southern state of Karnataka on Monday, January 8, 2024. Authorities had reached out to the taxi driver who was transporting her and told him to bring her to the closest police station, according to Goa police official Paresh Naik.
Naik disclosed to the news agency that Seth, 39, had checked into a hotel in Goa on Saturday and checked out on Monday night. However, her son was nowhere to be found. Hotel staff discovered blood stains in Seth’s room and promptly alerted the police.
“Upon inspection of her luggage, the deceased body of the child was discovered,” North Goa Superintendent of Police Nidhin Valsan informed Reuters. The Indian news outlet The Week reported that Seth told police that she is estranged from her husband, in the middle of divorce proceedings, and upset about a court order.
Seth has since been transported back to Goa for further questioning. Her husband, who was in Indonesia at the time of the alleged murder, has been ordered to return to India.
On her LinkedIn page, Seth is described as a specialist in AI ethics and a data scientist, bringing more than ten years of expertise to the table in guiding data science groups and expanding the use of machine learning in both startup environments and corporate research facilities. Additionally, she has earned a fellowship at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center.
Superintendent Valsan mentioned that only a comprehensive autopsy could confirm the reason for the boy’s death. However, on Wednesday, Dr. Kumar Naik, who holds an administrative position at Hiriyur Taluk Hospital where the post-mortem examination was conducted, informed the press that there’s a possibility the youngster could have died from suffocation due to obstruction by a cloth or pillow.
In the Goa residence where Seth was residing, authorities discovered two discarded bottles of cough medicine, leading them to speculate that the act was deliberate and premeditated.
The police are considering the likelihood that the boy was administered a large dose of the medication before being suffocated.
An officer from the police informed local media that post-mortem results suggest the possibility of suffocation without any defensive wounds, leading them to investigate if the child was sedated with an excessive amount of cough syrup by his mother before his life was ended.
According to the police, the service apartment employees mentioned the woman had requested that they purchase a bottle of cough syrup on her behalf.
“This appears to be a calculated homicide,” remarked the officer.
The detectives have yet to establish the motive for the homicide; meanwhile, the suspect underwent a psychological evaluation to determine her mental condition.
A police official disclosed that during questioning, the suspect denied any involvement in her son’s death, asserting that she discovered him deceased upon waking.
The police say they are skeptical of her explanation. The ongoing investigation will uncover why the child was killed.