There are about six to 10 cases of parents who killed their children before committing suicide themselves each year, and outside intervention is crucial to preventing such incidents, Ministry of Health and Welfare officials said yesterday.
Most such cases stem from relationship problems between the parents, Department of Protective Services Director-General Chang Hsiu-yuan (張秀鴛) said.
An analysis of such cases in recent years showed that about 30 percent were due to the parents’ relationship problems, financial problems and mental health problems such as depression, Chang said.
“About 20 percent were due to financial issues; they may have thought that no matter what they did, they could not overcome the financial difficulty, or were even in debt, so they did not want their children to face the same problem,” she said.
“No matter the reasons, parents should not deprive their children of the right to live,” Chang said.
She made the comments in response to a case in Taipei on Sunday where a man committed suicide after killing two of his children and seriously injuring a third.
The family in that incident was not on the government’s social reporting system for at-risk families, which means it is difficult for social care units to intervene with offers of help or prevent such tragedies, Chang said.
Social care units depend on relatives, neighbors or friends to help notice unusual conditions in a family and report them, she said.
Although the killing of children is hard to predict, there is often domestic violence beforehand, or a family is faced with a major accident or event, which is when relatives or neighbors can show concern and seek outside help to prevent tragedies, she said.
Parents should respect their children’s right to live because they are not objects that belong to the parents, and adults should handle marital or personal problems calmly or seek help, the ministry said.
The ministry encouraged people who have suicidal thoughts to call its toll-free hotline (0800-788-995) for assistance.
People who see or hear heated conflicts in neighboring families should call the ministry’s domestic violence hotline (113) to report the situation, or, in cases of an emergency, notify the police, it said.
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