PR Venkatraman, the estranged husband of Suchana Seth, the CEO of an artificial intelligence startup who is accused of killing her four-year-old son, on Saturday deposed before the Goa police, saying he last met his son on December 10 and that she had not allowed him to meet the child for the past five Sundays in violation of the court order.

The estranged couple also came face to face at the Calangute police station and what followed was later described by the police as a “blame game”. “When they faced each other, it led to arguments between the two. Venkatraman asked her ‘what have you done to my child? How could you do this to me?’ To which, Suchana replied she hadn’t done anything,” a police officer privy to the meeting said.

Their meeting, which took place in the presence of police officers, lasted for around 20 minutes.

Seth — the CEO of an AI firm in Bengaluru — allegedly smothered her son with a pillow at a resort in Candolim in north Goa and then stashed his body in the trunk of a taxi she hired to escape from Goa to Bengaluru, before getting arrested en route on January 8.

Also read: Father performs last rites of boy killed by CEO mother in Goa

While Venkatraman did not talk to reporters, his lawyer Azhar Meer said the news of his son’s murder has left his client shattered. “He has gone completely numb. His family is gone. His wife is in jail, his son is dead. What justice should he expect? What justice can be given?” Meer told reporters. “He can die for his son but will now have to live without him. My client has no claim for justice for himself or the child, who is no more.”

Venkatraman, who recorded his statement before investigating officer Paresh Naik, alleged that Seth did not allow him to meet his son for the past five Sundays. In his four-page statement, he also detailed the nature of his relationship with Seth, their first meeting in 2008 to getting married in 2010, the birth of their son in 2019 to their relationship falling apart and eventually leading to a hostile divorce case and acrimonious custody battle.

Also read- Suchana Seth: Who is this Bengaluru CEO arrested over 4-year-old son’s murder in Goa?

“The custody case has been going on in the Bengaluru family court for the last one year or so,” the lawyer said. “Initially the court had allowed the father to speak to the child over phone or through video call. Subsequently, he was allowed to meet once in two weeks within the court, later in a public place. In November, the court allowed the father to visit the child at home from morning till evening.”

Venkatraman met his son for the last time on Sunday, December 10, the lawyer said. “On January 6 (Saturday), Suchana wrote an email to Venkat asking him to come to Sadashiv Nagar in Bengaluru and pick up his son from there on Sunday. He had gone there at 10am and waited for one hour before returning home. Later that evening, he left for work (to Indonesia),” Meer alleged. “He sent a message to Suchana but got no reply.”

Perhaps Seth was disappointed that the case in which she had approached the court claiming to be the aggrieved party, all orders were going in the father’s favour, Meer said, adding only Seth would be able to say why she committed such an act.

“The trigger for the offence is just a guess. Maybe she did not want the child to meet his father or have emotional connect,” the lawyer added.

The police, meanwhile, said they will conduct the DNA tests of both the parents in order to rule out any other possible motives and in order to conduct a complete investigation.