Who is Suchana Seth’s husband, whom she has accused of domestic abuse?

The murder of a four-year-old boy allegedly by his mother Suchana Seth, a Bengaluru-based start-up CEO, has grabbed attention nationwide. The last rite of the child was performed by his father, Venkatraman PR, on Wednesday (10 January) morning in the Karnataka capital.

The father had returned to India from the Indonesian capital Jakarta where he was on a business trip on Tuesday evening after being informed about the child’s murder, PTI reported citing police. There are reports that Seth had filed domestic violence charges against her estranged husband from whom she is seeking a divorce.

What do we know about the husband? What’s going on in the alleged murder case? Let’s understand.

Who is Venkatraman PR?

Hailing from Kerala, Venkatraman is a data scientist who is working as a top executive with a financial services firm, reported Indian Express. He has a PhD in Physics from the Raman Research Institute in Bengaluru.

Venkatraman married Suchana, the CEO of The Mindful AI Lab, in 2010. They had reportedly met when they were research fellows at the Raman Research Institute between 2008 and 2011. The couple’s son was born in August 2019 after which differences sprung up between them, according to Indian Express. The pair filed for divorce in 2020, the proceedings for which are still underway.

Seth told the court she had been living separately from her husband since March 2021, reported NDTV.

Venkatraman told the police that his wife became “possessive” of the child soon after his birth, following which they started having frequent fights. They separated soon and have not stayed in touch for the past two years, as per Indian Express.

According to NDTV, Seth filed domestic violence charges against her husband in August 2022, accusing him of physically abusing her and their child. She had produced copies of WhatsApp messages and pictures, along with medical records, to back her claim of domestic abuse, the news channel reported citing court documents.

The husband had rejected the domestic abuse charges in court. Seth, 39, sought Rs 2.5 lakh per month in maintenance from Venkataraman, claiming he earned over Rs 1 crore annually. A family court in Bengaluru issued a restraining order against the husband on 18 August 2022, barring him from entering his wife’s home or contacting her or their child by phone or social media.

“On perusal of the materials and also photos furnished by the petitioner, it prima facie discloses there is domestic violence against the petitioner and her child by the respondent. At this stage, in the interest of justice and also to avoid multiplicity of proceedings, it is necessary to restrain the respondent from entering the residence of petitioner and her son,” a family court ruled in August 2022, reported Indian Express.

In September, the court ordered Venkataraman to “pay monthly interim maintenance of Rs 20,000 per month” to Seth. He has reportedly paid Rs 60,000 from September to November to his estranged wife.

The father was, however, recently given weekly visitation rights – every Sunday – to meet the child.

“Their divorce proceedings were underway. A recent order by a Bengaluru family court had directed that the father should get custody of the child every Sunday. For the past five weeks, she did not allow her son to visit his father. We believe she had come to Goa on the weekend to ensure that another week passes,” a police officer was quoted as saying by Indian Express.

What’s the latest in the murder case?

The Goa police believe Seth was upset with the court’s order granting visitation rights to her husband. “During interrogation with our investigating officers, the accused woman seemed to be unhappy with the court order,” Nidhin Valsan, the North Goa Superintendent of Police, told ANI.

Seth was arrested in Karnataka’s Chitradurga on Monday night while allegedly trying to flee to Bengaluru with the body of her son in a bag. She had checked into a service apartment at Hotel Sol Banyan Grande in North Goa’s Candolim on 6 January. Two days later, she checked out alone telling the hotel staff that her son was staying over with a friend.

The child’s body was recovered by the police in the suitcase.

The post-mortem examination of the child was held after his father arrived at Chitradurga in Karnataka and gave his permission to the local authorities on Tuesday. Dr Kumar Naik, a government doctor who conducted the post-mortem, said the child was “smothered or strangulated”.

“There are no wounds or signs of struggle. There may be the use of a pillow or a wire,” Indian Express quoted him as saying.

After the post-mortem exam, the father brought the child’s body to Bengaluru, where it was kept in Venkatraman’s parents’ apartment in Rajajinagar. The boy’s last rites were held on Wednesday in Bengaluru.

The police believe the alleged murder was “premeditated” after the discovery of empty cough syrup bottles at the service apartment. As per a police officer, Seth denied killing her son during questioning, claimed he was asleep and she was not aware of how he died.

According to the police, the start-up CEO tried to die by suicide after killing her son, reported PTI.