Filicide is the extreme domestic violence against the child. To study the subject and draw attention to its importance, the authors present the description of a forensic-psychiatric investigation that was performed at Instituto Psiquiátrico Forense Dr. Maurício Cardoso, in Porto Alegre, Brazil. This investigation refers to a double filicide followed by a suicide attempt. The legal context and a literature review on the subject are briefly presented in this work. The role of severe mental disease is stressed as a factor associated with certain cases of filicide behavior. The authors report the importance of early diagnosis and the need to implement appropriate treatment. Attention by mental health professionals is necessary to identify likely cases of violence against the child, since these cases are known to be underreported.
Forensic psychiatry; filicide; infanticide; homicide; violence