CEO of India AI Startup Arrested on Suspicion of Killing Her 4-Year-Old Son and Stuffing His Body in a Suitcase

Suchana Seth, 39, CEO of The Mindful AI Lab, checked into a hotel with her son on Saturday and checked out two days later without him, say police

The CEO of an AI startup in India has been arrested on suspicion of killing her 4-year-old son, whose body was allegedly found stuffed in her suitcase on her way home from a trip, authorities said.

Suchana Seth, 39, CEO of The Mindful AI Lab in Bengaluru, was arrested on Monday in the state of Karnataka on her way home from a trip to the state of Goa, police said, Reuters reports.

On Saturday, Seth and her son checked into a hotel in Goa, Goa Police Inspector Paresh Naik told reporters, according to Reuters. When she checked out on Monday morning, the boy was not with her, Naik said, Reuters reports.

She asked for a taxi to take her back to Bengaluru, according to CBS News. Hotel staff told her she would get her there faster by taking a flight from the nearest airport, but she allegedly demanded a taxi, police said, CBS News reports.

After she checked out, hotel staff allegedly found blood on the floor of her room, and notified police, Nidhin Valsan, Superintendent of Police in Goa state, told reporters Monday, Reuters reports. Police tracked down the taxi driver and told him to take Seth to the nearest police station, he said.

Chitradurga Superintendent of Police Dharmendra Kumar Meena said the boy's body was in a suitcase in the trunk of the taxi, the Times of India reports. The driver said Seth seemed calm and that he didn't suspect anything was amiss until police called him and told him to drive to the nearest police station, the Times of India reports.

“When her luggage was opened, the child's dead body was found,” Valsan told reporters, Reuters reports.

After her arrest, she was photographed being led down the stairs by police officers with a black bag over her head. She was wearing a dress and was holding a bottle of water.

"He (the child) was strangled to death or what we call smothering,” Dr Kumar Naik, administrative officer at Hiriyur Taluk Hospital in Chitradurga told reporters, Hindustan Times reports.

“Either a cloth or a pillow was used,” he added, per the outlet.

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Seth was separated from her husband and was in a custody battle with him at the time of her son's death, police said, the Times of India reports.

In 2010, Seth, who is from West Bengal, married Venkat Roman from Kerala, Valsan said, according to the Times of India. Their son was born in 2019. A year later, they separated and are in the process of getting divorced, Valsan said, per the outlet.

"During questioning, the woman said she had strained relations with her husband and their divorce proceedings are underway," Valsan said Monday, CBS News reports.

Seth’s LinkedIn account describes her as “an AI ethics expert and data scientist with over 12 years of experience in mentoring data science teams, and scaling machine learning solutions at startups and industry research labs."

She is also on "the 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics List," according to her LinkedIn.

It is unclear whether Seth has retained an attorney who can speak on her behalf. She remains held in police custody.

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