Scientifically, family homicide refers to a disturbing and highly traumatic event in which a person intentionally causes the death of several family members, extreme domestic violence, and represents a manifestation of deadly violence in a family setting in a terrible way.
Family murder can take various forms, such as filicides (killing one’s children), uxoricides (killing one’s wife), or a combination. This profound tragedy requires intensive investigation and analysis from a psychological and social perspective of criminal psychology to identify causes, risk factors, and potential prevention strategies. Understanding the complexity of patterns and motivations is essential to developing effective interventions and programs to alleviate this serious social issue. Family murder is a highly tragic act in which a person intentionally causes the death of several family members. They can be divided into four categories:
1. Self-Righteous: The murderer wants to blame his crime on the mother, who he believes is responsible for the family's destruction. This allows the killer to call his partner before killing him and explain what he will do. For these men, central to the idea of the ideal family is their pastoral status.
2. Disappointed: This killer believes that his family let him down or acted in ways that distorted or destroyed his vision of better family life. An example may be frustration that the children do not follow the father's traditional religious or cultural customs.
3. Anomic: In these cases, the family became inextricably linked to the economy in the killer's mind. The father sees the family as a consequence of his financial success, which allows him to display his accomplishments. But when the father fails financially, he finds that the family no longer does this work.
4. Paranoid: Those who perceive an outside threat to the family. Often this is a social services or legal system, with the father fearful of taking the children away from him. Here murder is motivated by a twisted desire to protect one’s family.
Familicide may be untrodden in the scientific literature because the cases tend to be much more confidential. This also needs more statistics for you to refer to. As per the sources, 80% of the cases were executed by the male category, and the most common month was August, with Sunday being the most preferred day. According to sources, 71% of the annihilators were employed, and the professions ranged from surgeons, police, lorry drivers, and so. Let us dive deep into the psychology behind it and understand it much more profoundly with some case studies.
CASE STUDIES :
1. TRIPLE HANGING IN FILICIDE SUICIDE
The 28-year-old married woman's relationship with her husband and in-laws had deteriorated since her marriage. She was married for five years, and her husband worked as a government employee. The victim was accused of harassment in exchange for a divorce. On the fateful day, she went to the local police station and filed a harassment complaint against her husband. He also told the department in charge that he would commit suicide if things were not fixed. After complaining, she called her parents and said that her life was desperate and that she would commit suicide. After that, his parents could not reach his mobile. The parents immediately informed the local police station. About an hour later, the police arrived at his house. The bedroom was locked from the inside. After forcing open the door, police found his body hanging from a ceiling fan containing chunni. (The chunni or dupatta is a critical long dupatta for the dress of many Indian and South Asian women). The body was in a semi-hanging position touching the bed, and another ligature item (chunni) was lying on the bed. When police opened a nearby apartment, they found the body of a three 1/2-year-old girl hanging from a lime-filled ceiling fan. The body of a 2-year-old boy was found lying on a bed in the same room. It took about an hour to see him at home. Further inquiries with neighbors revealed that the same morning he had borrowed a chair from a neighbor and a table from a nearby tailor shop for chunni work by laying the body of a 2-year-old boy lying flat on the bed.
NECROPSY REPORTS
The body of the Son
A smooth, incomplete, 2.5-cm thickness running upwards and laterally in front of the middle third of the neck. Dissection of the neck showed no bleeding from the underlying soft tissues. The neck muscles and thyrohyoid complex were intact. The lymph nodes and sal-avari arteries of the neck were penetrated. There was a small amount of yellow fluid in the stomach. The abdominal muscles and internal organs were paralyzed. The cause of death was asphyxia due to hanging before the end of the ligature.
The body of the daughter
Dried bones covered the girl's body in fair proximity to her face. Brown coloration was observed on the palms and fingernails. Around her neck was a black embroidered chunni. The soft tissue of the base of the tongue and the nasopharyngeal muscle contracted when the packaging was removed. All the organs in the body were paralyzed. There were two linear brown lesions on the upper left forearm, one on the front and the other on the inner wing. The cause of death was respiration due to ante-marten release by ligature.
The mother’s body
There was dry bone near the normal side of the face. A neckband (chunni) was provided around the neck. After removing the lime, an incomplete dark brown ligature marks 4 cm wide ran up and back to the top of the neck. Upon dissection, there were no significant changes in the underlying soft tissue. All the organs in the body were paralyzed. The cause of death was asphyxia due to ligature of the ante-martem.
2. BURARI CASE :
In the morning, a neighbor named Gurcharan Singh, walking with one of the deceased family members, noticed a strange sight. He found the bodies of 11 family members in their home, all hanging blindfolded, their hands tied with ropes, and their necks tightly wrapped in blankets. He panicked and immediately alerted authorities and raised the alarm in the area. During the investigation, evidence emerged that challenged the initial theory of mass murder. The women of the house still wore their finery, and there was no sign of struggle or distress except the neck mark. The lack of evidence of theft complicated the case. Various theories are considered, including the possibility of mass suicide. But with dangling ears, blindfolds, and pockets, suicide has been brutal to accept as an explanation. In a separate room, Narayani Devi, an 80-year-old family member, was found dead by her bedside, her body partly transformed. Another curious feature is that all the bodies lie a few centimeters from the ground, indicating that the crime occurred elsewhere and that the bodies were later returned home. Still, the arrangements for transferring 11 bodies raised doubts about the reality of such a situation.
Adding to the mystery, the family’s dog, Tommy, was found tied to the roof, expressing distress. Neighbors said they heard Tommy barking throughout the night. Concerned for his welfare, Tommy was admitted to the veterinary clinic due to his fever and unusual behavior. Further investigation revealed that the youngest family member, Shivam (15), was last seen playing cricket with his friends around 12.30 pm the night before.
3 - This is a case with unknown specifics. This incident is personal as it occurred with a girl who studied at my school. One day, we got to know that she died suddenly. Later, we learned that her mother poisoned her and herself because he was tortured for the dowry. But the mother survived. In another case, this incident is a bit personal, too. My mom was an eyewitness for the same. My mom was standing on the terrace, and it was the time of dawn. She saw one of her neighbors walking weirdly and with two of her kids looking very strange. Mom called her to ask if everything was okay; she looked at Mom, kept looking for a bit, and then kept walking. My mom was terrified but was courageous enough to look where she was heading. She walked to the well, threw her kids, and then jumped herself. Her kids were already unconscious, as we came to know later. The mother died, but one of the kids survived.
CONCLUSION:
The leading reason for the annihilators is repressed individuals—repression of one's emotions, anger, and failures. When you are the family's sole breadwinner and can't do more, you think their survival will not be possible without you, so you take them with you. By looking at the case studies, I can conclude that even empaths can be family annihilators. The other causes can be unable to take failure, disrespect, or hurt ego.
The motives of family destroyers:
- Family breakdown is a common cause of family murder, with perpetrators often blaming the family situation on their partner.
-Power and control play an essential role, including exerting power and regaining control over relationships.
- Some family breakdowns may have personality disorders, such as psychosis or antisocial personality disorder.
- Personal failures, such as social or economic changes, can lead to atypical family homicides.
-Events or sudden disappearances may trigger family homicides among individuals who are not known perpetrators of domestic violence.
-It could be a mixture of factors such as a sense of entitlement, narcissism, and the mistaken belief that killing one’s family is doing them a favor.
Note: It is important to remember that these motivations do not apply to all family breakdowns, as each case is unique.
"Family annihilators represent a dark and harrowing reality, where the deepest bonds of love and trust are shattered, leaving a trail of unspeakable tragedy in their wake."
Thankyou for addressing such a tragic and heartbreaking topic. My heart goes out for the families who have endured such difficult and unimaginable loss.
ReplyDeleteIt's too dark. I always resist knowing more about these cases, but after reading this blog, I can say that every adult person should know about this and keep their families safe.
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