A woman commits suicide at Pentecost. The police found the bodies of her two children in her apartment. Such an incident happened not for the first time.
Schwieberdingen – One Mutter according to the police on the Pentecost weekend in Schwieberdingen in Baden-Württemberg Kinder killed. The 56-year-old then committed suicide in the neighboring town of Korntal-Münchingen, the police and public prosecutor announced today. According to initial investigations, the 13-year-old daughter and her 17-year-old brother were in the apartment between Sunday evening and Monday evening Family was killed.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, there should not be an autopsy – “since third-party involvement in the crime can be ruled out,” as a spokesman explained. The mother’s corpse led to the apartment and the killed children. “The corresponding investigations then led to the discovery of the dead children,” the public prosecutor continued.
With a view to the post-mortem personality rights of those involved, no further details could be given, the spokesman said. The background is still unclear. According to the “Bild” newspaper, the crime took place on a former horse farm in the east of the community.
The mayor of Schwieberdingen, Nico Lauxmann (CDU), said that the community was stunned. “No big words are needed now,” he said on the community’s website. Instead, he wished for “a pause, compassion and support for family, friends and acquaintances”.
Not an isolated case
Two similar cases in Baden-Wuerttemberg made headlines on Easter: According to information at the time, a mother in Hockenheim near Heidelberg contacted the police that she had killed her nine and seven-year-old children. In Ulm, a 40-year-old man is said to have killed his partner’s seven-year-old daughter with a knife.
According to a rough estimate based on projections from European and US studies, there are one to two cases of infanticide per 100,000 children per year, depending on the country. Statistics from the investigators do not provide any information on how often children have become victims of their parents or close relatives in recent years.
According to figures from the Federal Criminal Police Office, around every tenth victim of murder, manslaughter and killing on demand was a minor in the past year – regardless of the relationship with the perpetrator. 45 were under the age of 14 and 14 others were teenagers. The numbers are similar to the pre-Corona year 2019.
(Have you had suicidal thoughts or have you noticed them in a relative/acquaintance? The telephone counseling service offers help: anonymous advice is available around the clock on the free numbers 0800 / 111 0 111 and 0800 / 111 0 222. Advice about this is also available Internet is possible at http://www.telefonseelsorge.de.)