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Protect innocents from

the menace of familicide

A were prevalent in most of the cases.
52-year-old man stabbed his
Although the incidents of familicide
estranged wife to death and as-
The LasT saulted his daughter over some cases are relatively few, they are the most
argument at Kalyan town in
common form of mass killings. However,
Word on April 26. In a separate incident on April statistical data are difficult to establish due
Thane district of Maharashtra
to reporting discrepancies, particularly in
Abdul WAsey 21, a jobless man killed his wife, 5-year-old India. Familicide differs from other forms of
son and twin 4-year old children by giv- mass murder as the murderer kills family
ing them sleeping pills in liquid and then members or loved ones rather than anony-
stabbed them with a knife in Ghaziabad in mous people. This has a different psychody-
Uttar Pradesh. namic and psychiatric significance, but the
In yet other incident, a 60-year-old man distinction is not always made.
killed his wife with dumbbell, killed their A study of 30 cases in Ohio found that
pet dog by throwing off sixth floor and most of the killings were motivated by a
jumped and committed suicide in Bengal- parent’s desire to stop their children’s suf-
uru on April 23. Three familicide incidents fering. In Australia, a study was done of sev-
were reported in Telangana’s Medak district en cases of familicide followed by suicide.
in April alone, claiming lives of five children Some common factors such as marital dis-
in less than 10 days.
The incidents of familicides
— where a perpetrator kills Strained relationship
multiple close family members with family members,
in quick succession, most often
children, relatives, spouse, sib- liquor addiction and
lings, or parents — are not rare financial woes key
in the country. Sadly, the cases
where an offender killed or at- reasons behind rise in
tempted to kill their current or familicide incidents
former spouse/intimate partner
and one or more of their biologi-
cal or stepchildren have received cord, unhappiness, domestic violence, sex-
relatively little attention. Appar- ual abuse, threats of harm to self or others
ently, not much work has been were found in varying degrees. It was not
done to investigate typologies of clear what could be done for prevention.
these incidents or examine risk Psychologist Bandi Harishankar, a coun-
factors for different types of familicides. sellor at Sangareddy Jail in Telangana, of-
It is crucial to study the circumstances fers a solution. “There is a need to appoint
in which familicides take place to prevent community counsellors to track behaviour
these incidents and protect families. Famil- of such people. Early intervention could
icides have devastating consequences not save lives of children at risk as well as of
only for those directly involved and indi- disturbed persons,” he says, adding that
viduals close to the perpetrator and the vic- the governments should intervene to keep
tims, but also for surrounding communities. children away from depressed people. The
A close look at such incidents suggests earlier it is done, the better it would be for
that familicides were almost exclusively both individuals and societies. After all, it in-
committed by men and about half of these volves the lives of innocent people, includ-
cases led to the suicide of the offender. Men- ing minors.
tal health problems, relationship problems,
drug addiction and financial difficulties letters@tehelka.com

Tehelka / 15 may 2019 66 www.Tehelka.com