brand logo

Filicide or suicide pact? The tragic case of a family of four

06 Jan 2022

  • Local case report highlights multifaceted nature of risks posed to children by guardians
  • Urges more holistic assessment of such complex cases
BY Ruwan Laknath Jayakody Multifaceted formulation is needed to assess risks towards children from their legal guardians who may cause them harm, and when such cases of a complex nature are investigated, it is important to consider the multiple dimensions of risk towards children, and not merely the risk of child sexual abuse. This observation was made in a brief report on “Filicide-suicide or a suicide pact? A case report from Sri Lanka with implications for child protection”, which was authored by M. Hewagama and S.G.H. Abeypitiya (attached to the District General Hospital in Matara) and V. Dharmawardene (attached to the Teaching Hospital in Ratnapura and the Sabaragamuwa University’s Medical Faculty) and published in the Sri Lanka Journal of Psychiatry 12 (2) in December 2021.  Filicide is the act of parents killing one’s own child or children. Many perpetrators of filicide, especially of young children, are reported to, as per “Filicide: Historical review and the prevention of child death by parent” by M.A. Koenen and J.W. Thompson Jr., successfully concealed their crime. According to “Infanticide in England and Wales, 1982-1988” by M.N. Marks and R. Kumar, filicidal fathers are known to have criminal records, kill older children, and be psychotic less often than filicidal mothers. P.D. Scott highlighted in “Parents who kill their children” the motivational or impulse-related factors behind the act, where the perpetrator’s original aggression is seen as displaced from the partner or wife, sibling, or parent, towards a more vulnerable target – the child. In “Aggression and violent behaviour: Victim, perpetrator, and offense characteristics in filicide and filicide – suicide”, A. Debowska, D. Boduszek, and K. Dhingra noted that most men who commit filicide have been raised in environments characterised by violence and abuse, and have experienced separation from or the separation of parents, while many have had severe behavioural problems and psychiatric treatment beginning in their childhood. A suicide pact, as per J. Cohen’s “A study of suicide pacts”, is the mutual arrangement between two or more people who resolve to carry out an act to die at the same time, nearly always in the same place, and these pacts may occur due to non-ideological reasons, usually among family members, mostly spouses, or among friends. When a pact involves a parent and a child or children, according to the “Quadruple pact suicide attempt involving a man and three adolescents” by S. Sarkar, B. Srinivas and S. Grover, it is almost always the parent who instigates the pact, while on many occasions, the parent is mentally unwell. Moreover, Hewagama et al. pointed out that in a case where children are involved, it is often difficult to establish how competent they were, especially as a child is vulnerable to persuasion and often lacks the power to resist a parental order to obey, irrespective of competency (Sarkar et al. noted that even though children are able to understand the act of suicide, they lack the adult competency to understand the consequences). Hewagama et al. reported a case of the death of a 41-year-old father and his three teenage children, in a possible filicide-suicide event, or in what appeared to be a suicide pact, apparently instigated by the father who killed himself after the children ended their lives. Case report The bodies of a 41-year-old man and three of his four children, aged 10, 14, and 16 years, were found hanging from a bamboo pole strung across two trees in front of the family home in Kamburupitiya, Matara. The house had apparently been set on fire by the man on the day of the incident. The youngest (10-year-old) and the oldest (16-year-old) deceased children were girls while the 14-year old boy was a novice monk who resided in a nearby temple, who had been fetched home by the father a few days before the incident. The bodies of the three children were found with their hands tied with minimal abrasions or wounds. A bag was found hung on the end of a pole on the clothes line in the garden, containing several handwritten notes, including two suicide notes. One suicide note was from the father and the other was purportedly a joint suicide letter signed by the three children, in the handwriting of the oldest (as identified by the Police). In the latter letter, the children had written that they did not want to live any longer without their mother (the deceased man’s wife) as they could not perform the household work and due to the distress caused to them by rumours circulating in the village, alleging incest in their family. Hewagama et al. carried out face-to-face and telephone interviews with the wife of the deceased man; the deceased man’s father, brother, and sister-in-law; and the grama niladhari of the village, the Child Welfare Officer (CWO) of the area, the Officer In Charge (OIC) of the Kamburupitiya Police Station, and the Principal of the school which the two girls had attended. The deceased man had had a very difficult childhood, where he was physically abused by his father and also probably witnessed regular acts of domestic violence and possible incestual acts by his father towards his sister. The deceased man had been expelled from school in Grade 10 for his aggressive and disruptive behaviour and since then had worked as an unskilled labourer. The deceased man had married after a romantic relationship, and in addition to the three children who died in this incident, they also have another son (17 years old) who is a monk, living in a distant temple. According to the deceased man’s wife, the deceased man had throughout their marriage displayed regular, pathological patterns of behaviour characterised by threats and acts of violence, deliberate self-harm, destroying property including setting his house on fire, killing and maiming animals, and repeated physical assaults of his two sons for trivial reasons. He appeared to have suspected his wife of infidelity for a considerable time; however, it is unclear as to whether this was delusional in nature. He had also repeatedly accused his father and brother of wanting to steal his property, leading him to be estranged from them over a number of years. There had also been periods of excessive alcohol use, but this had substantially reduced towards the last two years of his life. The deceased man’s wife reported that during the last two years, she had concerns regarding the deceased man abusing their older daughter sexually, which had led her to leave him and live separately with the children for a short time. However, she said that she had been forced to return with the children due to the deceased man’s unending cajoling, threats, and poor financial status. She reported that she had made several complaints of domestic violence to the Police, but that, according to her, none of these were ever documented or investigated. She said she did not inform the authorities of her suspicions about the daughter being sexually abused, as she wanted to avoid the social stigma of such a disclosure. She had finally left the deceased man in May 2017, but she had reported that her two daughters had refused to leave with her, despite her reasoning with them. It appeared that she had viewed this as a betrayal of her by the daughters. According to other informants, a number of government officials, such as the Police and CWOs, had been alerted regarding the children’s living situation at this time, by various sources, including through anonymous calls, alleging that the deceased man was sexually abusing his children. Hewagama et al. were informed that even though an investigation had been initiated, it had not been pursued lengthily due to insufficient information. The school authorities whom Hewagama et al. had interviewed had not observed any emotional distress in the two girls after their mother left the family home in 2017. However, the deceased man’s relatives had noticed that he had become socially withdrawn during this time and that his alcohol use had reduced. As per Debowska et al., the deceased man fits the profile of a typical filicidal father. Hewagama et al. added that threats of self-harm, domestic violence, and setting fire to his house prior to 2017 indicate probable poor impulse control and a possibility of a major mental illness, such as depression and or delusional disorder. Alcohol, Hewagama et al. noted, may have played a role, but added that it is not clear as to whether the deceased man was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident. “Suicide pact survivors: Some observations” by K.S. Latha indicated that most parents responsible for filicide either have a history of psychiatric contact and/or ongoing symptoms of a mood or thought disorder, at the time of the act. The incident Hewagama et al. describe appears to be well planned, with several letters written and visible attempts having been made to blame the wife and absolve the deceased man of responsibility for the act. It is arguably, as per Debowska et al., an example of filicide motivated by the desire for spousal revenge. Hewagama et al. also hypothesise that even if this was a true suicide pact, it (as written in the letter by the children, which stated that “we agree to father’s plan as there are no other options”) may have been instigated by the father, who was most probably mentally ill, and that the participants were three dependent and vulnerable children. In Hewagama et al.’s view, there have been many warning signs that could have alerted the authorities about the dangers posed to the children. According to Hewagama et al., it could be argued that errors in judgement may have led to the underestimation of the risk posed to the children, thus preventing the child protection staff from acting assertively. Hewagama et al. were informed that at one point, the authorities had contemplated placing the children in a home of a teacher of the school, in the context of claims of sexual abuse; however, this had not been carried out as the investigation conducted at the time did not find any evidence to support these claims. It is also noteworthy, as per Hewagama et al., that the autopsy findings failed to find any evidence of penetrative sex involving the two girls. “Interventions for sexually abused children: A mismatch between evidence and practice is harmful to children” by V. Dharmawardene explained that the overemphasis given to child sexual abuse can derail agencies from looking into other risks posed to the children. “It is not clear whether a valid, overall approach was taken by different staff who assessed the risk. The recording of statements without a formulation based on the consideration of the overall, multiple risk factors in this situation appears to be a deficit in the child protection procedures, which unfortunately has become evident only after the tragedy. We also hypothesise that the fact the deceased man was known to the Police, CWOs, and other authorities, may have precluded them from obtaining a compulsory mental health evaluation of him, which in turn may have changed the course of events for this family,” Hewagama et al. elaborated. If you’re affected by the above content or if you/someone you know may be dealing with a similar situation, the following institutions would assist you: Sri Lanka Police Child and Women Bureau: 011 2444444 NCPA: 1929 LEADS: 011 495 4111  

Kapruka

Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Automobile, Mother and Baby Products, Clothing, and Fashion. Additionally, Kapruka offers unique online services like Money Remittance, Astrology, Medicine Delivery, and access to over 700 Top Brands. Also If you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.Send love straight to their heart this Valentine's with our thoughtful gifts!

Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Automobile, Mother and Baby Products, Clothing, and Fashion. Additionally, Kapruka offers unique online services like Money Remittance, Astrology, Medicine Delivery, and access to over 700 Top Brands. Also If you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.Send love straight to their heart this Valentine's with our thoughtful gifts!


More News..