title: Maternal Filicide among Women Admitted to Forensic Psychiatric Institutions in Malaysia: Case Series.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the characteristics of maternal filicide and describe the adverse life events experienced by women who have committed filicide and been hospitalised in forensic psychiatric institutions in Malaysia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Registration records from 2000 through 2012 of female patients from 2 main forensic psychiatric institutions in Malaysia were reviewed. The medical records of patients who had committed maternal filicide were selected and descriptively evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 18 cases of maternal filicide were identified. Family dysfunction that presented with marital discord, domestic violence, or husband with substance abuse was the main stress experienced by the women. Three social circumstances, including an adolescent who became a victim of date rape; immigrants who experienced sexual abuse; and filicide-suicide precipitated by financial difficulties were highlighted.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Women who committed filicide had experienced various difficulties in their life. The presence of such life events might alert mental health professionals to investigate the possibility of filicide among their patients.
authors.affiliation: Psychological and Behavioural Medicine Discipline, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Razali
authors.affiliation: Forensic Psychiatry Unit, Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta, Perak, Malaysia.
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Salleh
authors.affiliation: Forensic Psychiatry Unit, Hospital Permai, Tampoi, Johore, Malaysia.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yahya
authors.affiliation: Psychological and Behavioural Medicine Discipline, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Ahmad
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017579:Domestic Violence; D005260:Female; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry; D006708:Homicide / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Depressive disorder; Domestic violence; Infanticide; Maternal behavior