Maternal Infanticide and Filicide in a Psychiatric Custodial Institution in Hong Kong.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to review the history, legislation, and psychiatric perspective of filicide, to compare the characteristics of mothers who committed neonaticide versus infanticide, and to discuss the infanticide law in Hong Kong.

METHODS: Data of mothers remanded to the Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre from 2008 to 2016 for filicide were reviewed, as were data of filicide from the Child Fatality Review Reports published by the Social Welfare Department.

RESULTS: From 2008 to 2016, eight mothers were remanded to Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre for filicide. Four were convicted of infanticide; the other four were convicted of manslaughter. Those convicted of infanticide were single and aged <18 years. They had concealed their pregnancies and received no antenatal care. They delivered at home and then either smothered or abandoned the newborn. They reported no suicidal attempts after the index offence and had no record of mental illness. They were given supervision orders instead of prison sentences. In contrast, those convicted of manslaughter were in their 30s and married. They were documented to have killed the victims by charcoal burning, strangulation, mutilation, or defenestration. They all attempted suicide immediately after the killing and had histories of mental illness: paranoid schizophrenia (n = 2), severe depressive disorder with psychotic symptoms (n = 1), and recurrent depressive disorder (n = 1). They were sentenced to Hospital Orders for unspecified periods.

CONCLUSIONS: In Hong Kong, the incidence of maternal filicide is low. However, the infanticide provision grants leniency to mothers, including those who show no evidence of mental illness.