Health Ministry Reports 62 Children Killed in Murder-Suicides
Over 60 children were killed in murder-suicides in Taiwan in the past six years, a new report shows. The alarming new data reveals a persistent stigma about getting psychiatric help, suicide prevention workers say.
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00:00Seeking answers for a situation she never saw coming,
00:04this woman lost her daughter and grandson in an apparent murder-suicide
00:08at the hands of her son-in-law.
00:23The husband is believed to have killed his wife in their apartment
00:26and suffocated their six-month-old child in the car before taking his own life.
00:30It's part of an alarming trend,
00:32with the health ministry reporting that between 2017 and 2023,
00:3662 children died in murder-suicides,
00:39the latest one of three cases just this month.
00:42Experts point to financial troubles, health issues,
00:45and souring relationships as the main factors that lead to these killings.
00:57But suicide prevention workers say
00:59that a persistent stigma in Taiwan against seeking psychiatric help
01:03may make it difficult for some people to see an end to their troubles.
01:13And with many warning signs hard to detect from the outside,
01:16child safety advocates say it should not just be on the inside.
01:26It's up to the individual or their families to act,
01:29and that the government needs to get involved in prevention as well.
01:43By making those resources more widely available
01:46and getting the conversation started on mental health,
01:49these advocates say they can get more help to people experiencing suicidal thoughts
01:53to prevent tragedies like this from happening in the future.
01:56Kama Sri and Tiffany Wong for Taiwan Plus.