Depressed Chinese mother kills four daughters, wounds one after failing to give birth to son
A Chinese mother suffering from depression allegedly killed four of her children and wounded another after giving birth to her fifth daughter, Chinese media reported.
The 31-year-old woman, identified only by her surname Zhou, reportedly stabbed her five daughters in their village home in Zhanjiang, southern Guangdong province, on Friday, according to Guangdong Radio and Television.
Zhou, who had given birth to her fifth daughter just last month, was apprehended after villagers called the police.
The children – all aged below eight – were taken to hospital, but four of them died, the report quoted a statement released on Zhanjiang police’s Weibo account as saying.
Zhou told police that she stabbed her children with a kitchen knife because she was frustrated and depressed after giving birth to her fifth daughter last month, the report said.
It quoted her husband as saying that the couple had been praying for a son for many years but that Zhou gave birth to daughter after daughter.
Villagers described seeing blood spatters at the scene.
One said the family was poor and that Zhou’s husband worked away from home, leaving his wife to care for the children and his disabled father.
A police investigation is ongoing.
