Family Murders In South Africa
Of the things I encounter in my work, the one I find most disturbing is family murders. For some reason they happen with too much frequency in our country. It seems that some people, when life is too much for them are not happy to only put a bullet through their own head, but they feel the need to wipe out their entire family first. In my opinion it is a dastardly and cowardly act for which there is no excuse…ever.
The last one I was indirectly involved in was a typical story of a man that had lost it. He killed himself. But just before doing that he shot his wife and two children. His little girl made it to the hospital. I was asked to evaluate her, but she died before I even got to her. I was so disturbed I decided I didn’t want to see the body. I did, however see the scan. Besides the two bullet wounds through the head, the thing that struck me most were the two hair clips clearly visible on the scan in her hair on the back of her head. it was somehow disturbingly poignant and it stayed with me for some time.
*This blog post was originally published at other things amanzi*
