The Belgian who slaughtered her five children died by euthanasia: she asked to end her life for “hopeless psychological suffering”

the Belgian Genevieve Lhermittesentenced in 2008 to life in prison for beheading his five childrendied on Wednesday by euthanasia in a hospital in the Walloon Region, in the south of the country, according to the local press on Thursday.

Lhermitte, 56, died at the Léonard de Vinci hospital in Montigny-le-Tilleul by euthanasia, according to the newspaper of Sudinfo. This has not yet been confirmed by his relatives, while the newspaper The evening Note that the woman had requested and obtained “euthanasia due to hopeless psychological suffering”.

February 28, 2007, Lhermitte killed his five children one after another -Yasmine, born in 1992, Nora (1995), Myriam (1997), Mina (1999) and Medhi (2003)- in their respective rooms.

After slitting the children’s throats with a knife, Lhermitte unsuccessful attempt to commit suicidecalled for help and left two handwritten notes on the door of his home with the message “call the police”.

The criminal court in Nivelles, a town south of Brussels, sentenced the mother to life imprisonment in December 2008, after the jury found her responsible for her actions and guilty of premeditated murder.

The case shocked Belgian public opinion, which quickly followed the progress of the investigation and the trial.

Geneviève Lhermitte and her husband, the Moroccan Bouchaib Mokadem, did not seem to have major problems, even if, according to certain testimonies collected by the prosecution, she felt completely socially isolated.

Mokadem, employed in the pharmaceutical sector, was on a business trip at the time of the events.

Until the very day of judgment, the psychiatrists who examined Lhermitte held him responsible for his actions, despite the fact that he was in a state of acute anxiety and depression when he killed his children.

But during the trial, a letter emerged that Lhermitte had written to his psychologist the day before the events and in which he he revealed his intention to kill himself and take his children to his death.

A second analysis carried out after this revelation indicated that the woman could not be held responsible for her actions and recommended that she be admitted to a psychiatric clinic.

But the jury ruled against those recommendations and found Lhermitte guilty of premeditated murder.

(With information from EFE)

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In Mexico the national support system, psychological counseling and crisis intervention by telephone (SAPTEL) offers a 24-hour telephone service at the number: 0155 5259-8121. In the United States, you can dial +1-888-628-9454.

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In United States, there are National Suicide Prevention Network ask for help; you can call 1-888-628-9454 or 1-800-273-8255, la línea del Servicio Nacional de Prevention del Suicidio, para hablar con alguien que te brindará apoyo gratuito y confidencial las 24 horas del día, los siete días of the week. THE The CDC also recommends its own policiesprevention programs and practices.