From AI expert to murder suspect: What led Bengaluru tech CEO Suchana Seth to allegedly kill her son?

The CEO of a startup, Suchana Seth, arrested in Karnataka for allegedly killing her four-year-old son in Goa, has informed the police that she and her husband were estranged, with ongoing "divorce proceedings," Press Trust of India reported. The motive for the murder remains unknown, pending interrogation. Suchana Seth, 39, the CEO of Mindful AI Lab, allegedly committed the crime in Goa and transported the body to Karnataka. She was arrested in Chitradurga in Karnataka on Sunday night and faces charges under IPC sections 302 and 201, and the Goa Children's Act. The police, currently in Karnataka, await her arrival in Goa for further investigation.

According to the Goa Police, Seth had checked into a rented service apartment at Candolim in North Goa on January 6 along with her son. After staying there for two days, she left for Bengaluru in a taxi arranged by the hotel staff. Later, when the apartment staff went to clean the room in which she stayed, they found blood stains on a towel. After that, the management of the apartment immediately informed the police. The staff also informed that the woman's four-year-old son was not seen with her when she left the apartment and she was also carrying an unusually heavy bag. The police in Chitradurga (Karnataka) later checked the woman's bag in which they found the body of the child.

What Goa Police said

Superintendent of Police (North) Nidhin Valsan said that the motive behind the murder would be established only after her interrogation. "What she has told us till now is that she and her husband were estranged and that they are currently undergoing divorce proceedings, he said. The accused is from West Bengal and has been living in Bengaluru, while her husband is from Kerala and is is currently in Jakarta (Indonesia), the police official said.

Who is Suchana Seth?

Suchana Seth, according to her LinkedIn profile, is an AI ethics expert and data scientist with 12+ years of experience. Associated with prestigious institutions like Mozilla Fellow at Data & Society and a Fellow at the Berkman Klein Centre at Harvard University, she's also been a research fellow at the Raman Research Institute, holding patents in natural language processing.

Also read: Who is Suchana Seth, the Bengaluru tech CEO arrested over 4-year-old son's murder in Goa?

A physicist-turned-data scientist, Suchana has contributed to scalable data science solutions, specializing in text mining and natural language processing. She conducts data science workshops for organizations like Women Who Code, advocating for closing the gender gap in data science.

Her research delves into auditing algorithms for fairness, accountability, and transparency in machine learning, ethical monetization of AI, security vulnerabilities in machine learning and AI systems, and the regulatory landscape for predictive algorithms. With a Master's degree in Plasma Physics from the University of Calcutta, a Bachelor's degree in Physics (Honours) from Bhawanipur Education Society College, Kolkata, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Sanskrit from the Ramakrishna Mission Institute Of Culture, Suchana Seth brings a diverse educational background to her AI expertise. (With PTI inputs)