Worry after string of family killings
Social welfare officials in Finland say family murders have become a permanent feature of the Finnish social landscape.
"People calling our office have started asking 'whether they need to kill their whole family before they get help'," says Irene Juva, head social worker for the city of Vantaa.
According to Juva, the recent spate of family homicides is also causing people to worry about the mental state of estranged spouses.
"There's growing fear that the other parent could be in state where they would inflict harm on themselves or the child during visitation," she explains.
Monday’s family slaying in Pomarkku is the eighth in Finland within the past year. The Interior Ministry is currently looking into new guidelines for preventing a repeat of such tragedies. Prior to this week’s gruesome murder, the most recent occurred in Helsinki in April, when a man killed his wife and two small children before taking his own life.
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