Homicide-suicide in Hong Kong from 2000 to 2019 : a systematic overview and comparison between filicide andmariticide/uxoricide

Abstract

Homicide-suicide (“HS”) is a rare form of violence, and most research were conducted to understand HS in their region, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom. However, little was done in an Asian context. This project gave an overview study of HS in Hong Kong from 2000 to 2019 and drew comparisons between filicide-suicide (“FS”) and mariticide/uxoricidesuicide (“MUS”). Data were mainly collected from the reports of the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Hong Kong Police Force with news reports for missing data. Data suggested that most offenders were married and unemployed, where they typically victimized people who were of the opposite sex and younger than them. Females, who victimized their sons, predominantly perpetrated FS, whereas male MUS offenders typically aggressed upon their female partners. MUS offenders were more hostile towards their victims, FS offenders tended to kill with minimal force. While MUS offenders killed to alleviate their frustration and committed suicide because of the loss of their victims, FS offenders tended to have suicidal ideation before the offense, aiming to save their victims from a miserable future without their protection. Since a combination of situational factors interacted and contributed to the offence, greater social support and detection from non-governmental organizations and the Social Welfare Department and a continue restriction on the access of gun might help to prevent potential perpetrators from the offence.