The first COVID-19 infanticide-suicide case: Financial crisis and fear of COVID-19 infection are the causative factors

Abstract

Background The global suicide occurrences have been aggravated because of COVID-19 crisis-related issues such as fear of infection, the financial crisis, being infected with COVID-19, loneliness, social boycott, etc. Although two studies reported about the seven dyadic suicidality cases (i.e., suicide pacts), child homicide-suicide has not been studied. Case presentation On 14 May, two dead bodies (i.e., a 30-years old Indian woman and her six-month-old baby) were found in a Riyadh apartment complex. The perpetrator (a person who kills the others and later commits suicide) – a trained nurse, was in search of a job. The woman's husband was recently retrenched from his technician job at a company in Madinah Airport. Her husband was admitted to a hospital with symptoms related to the COVID-19 infection four days before the suicide incidence. The 70-year-old mother-in-law alerted the neighbors after finding that the apartment is locked from inside and there was no response on knocking the doors. After this, the neighbors gathered and called the police. Police found two dead-bodies after opening the flat and suspected that the child was killed before the woman committed suicide. Conclusions Based on the present findings, further child filicide-suicide possibilities in families with economically distressed and/or positive COVID-19 status are expected. Hence, proper financial supports, providing authentic information (COVID-19), and mental health promotional strategies are suggested for decreasing incidences of COVID-19 related infanticide-suicide cases.

The first COVID‐19 triadic (homicide!)‐suicide pact: Do economic distress, disability, sickness, and treatment negligence matter?

“…16 Besides, another exceptional case relating to infanticide suicide pact of a 30-year-old Indian woman and her 6-month-old infant was reported in Saudi Arabia. 17 The woman's husband was recently retrenched from his job and was infected with COVID-19 before 4 days of the incident.…”

Psychological Consequence of the Corona Virus Disease Pandemic in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Survey

“…The COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated psychological burdens across cohorts throughout the entire world, and is also contributing to the rise in anxiety and depression. 27–29 For suppressing suicidality, early detection of mental health disorders is beneficial. Therefore, the present study was carried out among a large population in Kinshasa to facilitate policy-level data, and a high prevalence rate of both depression and anxiety was found.…”

Recommendations for school-going students post CoVid-19 in Bangladesh

“…However, CoVid-19 related suicidal ideation and depression were reported by 5% and 33.3% of the Bangladeshi population respectively, with the younger age group at greater risk [42]. Lockdown made students desolate and might upsurge the potential risk of suicide [43].…”