Attempted altruistic infanticide in a context of psychotic decompensation induced by stress linked to the COVID-19 pandemic:a case report

the mediatization of the CoVID-19 pandemic has created a lot of stress leading sometimes to mental health issues.We present a case of a thirty-year-old woman with no history of psychotic disease but some vulnerabilities and no criminal record,who attempted to kill her seven-year-old son during a brief delusional episode in the context of fear of the coronavirus.she was successfully treated by pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy.she was examined by forensic psychiatrists leading to the conclusion that her responsibility was highly diminished,and her reoffending risk was low.We add to the literature that the CoVID-19 pandemic has been such a stressor for mentally vulnerable people that it could lead to severe psychiatric decompensation and even criminal acts.

Infanticide:A Concept

Infanticide is killing of a child<12 months of age by a mother who has not fully recovered from the effects of pregnancy,giving birth and lactation,and suffers some degree of mental disturbance.However,in India,infanticide means unlawful destruction of a newly bom child and is regarded as murder in law and is punishable under section 302 completely neglecting postpartum psychiatric state of mothers5 mind.Several studies have indicated a high incidence of postpartum depression in mother of developing as well as developed countries.The lack of awareness in medical fraternity,legal experts,and society leads to miscarriage of justice.In this article,we have compared legal status of infanticide in various countries vis-a-vis India and thus tried to arrive at a more humane and pragmatic approach in cases of infanticide keeping in mind the psychological state of mother,gender inequality,weak public health infrastructure,and the prevalent practice of homicide of unwanted/female child.A psychiatric or medical assessment model of mother by panel of experts in case of infanticide should be evolved.Information and awareness of postpartum psychiatric illness among medical professionals,legal persons,and society is an important aspect.

Avian sibling cannibalism: Hoopoe mothers regularly use their last hatched nestlings to feed older siblings

Sibling cannibalism is relatively common in nature,but its evolution in birds and certain other vertebrates with extended parental care had been discarded.Here,however,we demonstrate its regular occurrence in two European populations of the Eurasian hoopoe(Upupa epops)and explore possible adaptive and non-adaptive explanations.Results showed that sibling cannibalism was more frequently detected in Spain(51.7%)than in Austria(5.9%).In these two populations,the hoopoes laid similar clutch sizes,resulting in similar fledging production,but hatching failures were more frequent in the northern population.Consequently,having more nestlings condemned to die in the southern population may explain the higher incidence of sibling cannibalism.In accordance with this interpretation,hatching span and failure,but not breeding date,explained the probability of sibling cannibalism in the Spanish hoopoes,while all three variables predicted brood reduction intensity.Furthermore,experimental food supply reduced the probability of sibling cannibalism,but not the intensity of brood reduction.Finally,females allocated fewer resources to the smallest nestlings when they were going to starve,but not necessarily when they were going to be used as food for their siblings.These results suggest that hoopoes produce extra eggs that,in the case of reduced hatching failure and food scarcity,produce nestlings that are used to feed older siblings.These findings provide the first evidence that sibling cannibalism occurs regularly in a bird species,thus expanding our evolutionary understanding of clutch size,hatching asynchrony,parent-offspring conflict,infanticide,and sibling cannibalism in the animal kingdom.

Attacks on adult females with infants by non-resident males in the François langur

Infanticide by males is a common phenomenon in mammals,especially primates,as lactation lasts much longer than gestation in many species.Usually,infanticidal episodes occur soon after group takeovers,and are traditionally considered a male reproductive strategy(i.e.,support the sexual selection hypothesis,Hrdy,1974).To verify the validity of this conception,we observed one group of François’langurs in the Nonggang Nature Reserve,China,between August 2003 and July 2004.During the study period,a François’langur female with the youngest infant in the group was attacked three times by immigrating males,and later disappeared by the third day after the final attack.We suggest that these attacks on the female-infant dyad represent infanticide attempts by males,and may be the cause of the adult female and her infant’s disappearance.Presumably,that female dispersed with her infant to avoid infanticide and was not killed.Though these observations do not completely verify the sexual selection hypothesis,they are not inconsistent with it.

Self-/conspecific discrimination and superparasitism strategy in the ovicidal parasitoid Echthrodelphax fairchildii （Hymenoptera： Dryinidae）

Superparasitism in solitary parasitoids results in fatal competition between the immature parasitoids, and consequently only one individual can emerge. In the semisoli- tary ovicidal parasitoid Echthrodelphaxfairchildii （Hymenoptera： Dryinidae）, 2 adults can emerge under superparasitism with a short interval （〈24 h） between the first and second ovipositions. We determined the female parasitoid＇s behavioral responses under self- and conspecific superparasitism bouts with first-to-second oviposition intervals of 〈2 h. The self- and conspecific superparasitizing frequencies increased up to an oviposition interval of 0.75 h, with the former remaining lower than the latter, particularly for oviposition intervals of _〈0.25 h, suggesting the existence of self-/conspecific discrimination. The superparasitizing frequency plateaued for oviposition intervals of _〉0.75 h, with no dif- ference between self- and conspecific superparasitism. The ovicidal-probing frequency did not differ under self- and conspecific superparasitism, and was usually 〈20%. The females exhibited no preference for the oviposition side （i.e., ovipositing on the side with or without the first progeny） and almost always laid female eggs for any oviposition in- terval under self- and conspecific superparasitism. The sex ratio was not affected by the type of superparasitism, oviposition sides, or the occurrence of ovicidal probing. These observed results about the oviposition side, ovicidal probing, and sex ratios differed from the predictions obtained assuming that the females behave optimally. Possible reasons for the discrepancies are discussed： likely candidates include the high cost of selecting oviposition sides and ovicidal probing, and, for the sex ratio, the low frequency of encountering suitable hosts before superparasitism bouts.

Seemingly maladaptive refraining from infanticidal probing at the third parasitism attack by the semi-solitary parasitoid Echthrodelphax fairchildii （Hymenoptera： Dryinidae）

We assessed the adaptiveness of refraining from infanticidal probing at the third attack under triple parasitism in the parasitoid Echthrodelphaxfairchildii Perkins, by comparing fitness returns from the third attack with and without probing. Fitness returns were assessed in terms of the survival rate, mean developmental time, and mean adult head width of the progenies. Not probing was maladaptive under triple parasitism with oviposition intervals of 1/24 and 24/24 hours （where the numbers before and after the slash refer to the first-to-second and second-to-third oviposition intervals, respectively）, although no significant difference was detected in fitness returns for oviposition intervals of 24/1 hours. We suggest that the cost of probing （especially the decrease in the chance of future ovipositions） is a reason for the seemingly maladaptive absence of probing.

Social biology of rodents

Herein, I summarize some basic components of rodent social biology. The material in this paper is summarized andcondensed from a recent book “Rodent Societies: An Ecological and Evolutionary Perspective” edited by J. O.Wolff and P. W. Sherman (2007). I describe the four basic spacing patterns and illustrate how female territoriality isa function of offspring defense and male mating tactics are a function of female defensibility. The vulnerability ofyoung to infanticide shapes female spacing and mating behavior. Food does not appear to be a defensible resourcefor rodents, except for those species that larder hoard nonperishable items such as seeds. Philopatry and theformation of kin groups result in genetic sub-structuring of the population, which in turn affects effectivepopulation size and genetic diversity. Dispersal is male biased and typically involves emigration from the maternalsite to avoid female relatives and to seek unrelated mates. Scent marking is a major form of communication and isused in reproductive competition and to assess prospective mates, but it is also eavesdropped by predators to locateprey. Females do not appear to alter the sex ratio of litters in response to maternal condition but among arvicolinerodents daughters appear to be favored in spring and sons in autumn. Rodents are relatively monomorphic;however, females tend to be larger than males in the smallest species and smaller in the larger species. Predationrisk results from an interaction among foraging time and vulnerability and in turn affects behavioral and life historycharacteristics.

Male attacks on infants and infant death during male takeovers in wild white-headed langurs(Trachypithecus leucocephalus)

Infanticide was first observed in langurs nearly 50 years ago,and this rare phenomenon has been inferred to have either an evolutionarily adaptive function or to be a pathological and non-functional behavior.In this study,we report 5 male takeover events in one-male groups of white-headed langurs in the Nongguan Karst Hills,Guangxi,China from 1998 to 2006.We recorded 13 attacks on 9 infants by extra-group males or new resident males.During the male takeovers,all of the infants younger than 6 months(with an average age of 3.6 months[N=11])in the groups disappeared.The infant death rate during the 4.2 months after takeover by a new male was significantly higher than the infant death rate calculated for most of the year.Older infants that were still nursing(with an average age of 14.1 months[N=7])were often attacked and seriously wounded by the extra-group males or new resident males,but all of them survived.The interbirth intervals of females whose infants were assumed to be killed by males were significantly reduced relative to those of females in groups with stable male tenure(mean=10 months vs 25 months).Our data suggest that males kill unrelated and unweaned infants during the takeover period to decrease the time until the infants’mothers resume fertility.Thus,infanticide would support sexual selection theory in white-headed langurs.The data also show that infanticidal behavior was directed toward the infants,especially those who were still nursing.Female dispersal may function as a counter-strategy to avoid infanticide.

Gender based violence

Gender based violence(GBV)is a preventable and serious human rights violation whereby an individual is harmed based on their gender.1 The violence can be perpetrated physically,sexually,mentally or financially.This includes domestic violence,rape,feticide/infanticide and female genital mutilation.As is to be expected,victims of GBV often suffer from life-long consequences and at times even death.The equation of GBV is significantly skewed against women and girls.Due to the sensitive and taboo nature of the topic,exact prevalence numbers of GBV remain difficult to ascertain with a global paucity of data on the matter.2 The World Health Organisation(WHO)estimates that 1 in 3 women will experience sexual or physical violence in their lifetime.1 This article will highlight 2 major forms of GBV in sexual violence and female feticide.

Homicidal Abuse of Young Children:A Historical Perspective

The past 50 years has seen a heightened awareness of abusive injury patterns and increased concern for the plight of children victimized by their caregivers.Murder of the young,however,has been embedded in society since the beginning of recorded time.Indeed,nature provides abundant examples of infanticide in lower animals,raising the question of whether exploitation,apathy,and violence toward children are on some level evolutionarily conserved.In human antiquity,selective killing of females,the illegitimate,and the malformed,killing by ritualistic sacrifice or to conserve resources was carried out with impunity.The middle ages and later saw a decline in these practices albeit limited.One hundred years into the industrial revolution,with harsh child labor in public view,legal remedies were sought to protect children but with little effect.The domestic abuse of children was not addressed until a pivotal 19^(th)-century case,in which the rights of animals were invoked to intervene on behalf of a child.In the 20th century,physicians began to look closely at anatomical findings;patterns due to trauma,especially inflicted trauma,began to emerge.“Battered child syndrome”was followed by“shaken baby syndrome”,the latter prompted by the recurrent findings of subdural hematoma,retinal hemorrhages,and brain injury with the absence of impact injuries and no plausible accidental or natural disease explanation.In the 21st century,high-quality studies and an emphasis on evidenced-based medicine substantiated the existence ofiiijury patterns resulting from homicidal violence.However,progress has been uneven.A case of child abuse that reached the US Supreme Court resulted in an ill-cited dissent that seems to have amplified an already toxic medicolegal environment,perhaps unjustifiably.The difficulties in balancing the welfare of society with that of caregivers in the aftermath of homicidal abuse will no doubt continue.