In South Africa, there has been an alarming rise in filicide in recent years, where parents harm or kill their own children. Mental health experts express shock at the frequency of such incidents.
Specialists shared information about filicide, examining potential motives and signs that relatives and neighbors might notice. Dr. Guru Kistnasamy, a psychologist, expressed his dismay regarding a recent 'incredible' case of filicide following the death of a three-year-old girl from Chatsworth.
The mother of this child was recently charged with murder, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and neglect of parental duties after the child's death in 2023. Kistnasamy noted that the media has covered cases of child killings by suffocation, poisoning, hanging, or beating.
According to studies, the main causes of these murders are often problems in personal and interpersonal relationships, including voluntary social isolation of the parent or experiencing extreme financial difficulties. Kistnasamy added that the parent may also have a low intellectual level, suffer from depression, be a victim of violence themselves, or have certain mental illnesses or psychosis.
Possible causes of filicide include intense anger or rage, exacerbated by narcissistic personality type, or revenge, when one parent wishes to harm the other by harming the children. Other factors are bitter breakups or divorces, where a spouse is deprived of financial support and subjected to shame and humiliation, as well as rejection, when a person experiences constant violence, humiliation, and feels unwanted.
Kistnasamy emphasized that child abuse is easily noticeable to relatives and neighbors. He pointed to 'red flags': physical, emotional, or sexual violence against the children's partners, as well as children who constantly cry or remain locked indoors. Signs also include physical scars resulting from violence or the child refusing to attend school.
Violence occurs in situations where spouses frequently argue, leading to verbal and physical abuse. The problem is that the abuse is only discovered after the child's death. In cases where one partner is abused or a narcissistic partner is present, the probability of harming children is high. Alcohol and drug dependence is also an alarming sign, as an addicted parent often exhibits selective amnesia regarding the violence that occurred.
Surviving children often go through life with trauma: they fear adults, find it difficult to trust, become withdrawn, constantly experience anxiety, and have low self-esteem, which affects their adult and future lives.
A colleague, Dr. Keresha Govender, a member of the non-profit organization DSK Group dealing with gender-based violence, stated that child abuse leaves a long-term and destructive mark that often persists into adulthood. Among the most common psychosocial consequences of child abuse, she named emotional scars, behavioral disorders, negative thought patterns, depression, anxiety, trust and relationship issues, increased risk of substance abuse, and sleep disturbances.
Govender noted that exposure to violence affects a child's emotional state and forms deeply rooted feelings of fear, helplessness, and difficulty adapting. She added that the child's resilience and coping mechanisms significantly determine the trajectory of their life.
Gender violence expert Dr. Nadia Bernon, press secretary for KZN Network on Violence Against Women, reported that studies show that mothers often act out of feelings of oppression, lack of support, or severe depression, while fatherhood has been linked to retaliatory killings due to relationship breakdowns or threats to access to the child. She also mentioned that untreated depression can be one of the causes of filicide, and the perpetrators often commit suicide, leaving only a note that the media and investigators must rely on.
Bernon indicated that domestic violence and narcissistic rage leading to rejection or breakup are common catalysts. She also stressed that cultural and personal stigmatization of mental illness prevents many from seeking help, and another factor is the fear of parents being judged as unfit to maintain custody of their children. To prevent this, regular mental health screenings or check-ups for young parents during prenatal and postnatal visits should be implemented to detect postpartum depression early, as well as for parents going through divorce and separation.