Infanticide

narrative from the Gospel of Matthew

Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose being the prevention of resources being spent on weak or disabled offspring. Unwanted infants were usually abandoned to die of exposure, but in some societies they were deliberately killed. Infanticide is generally illegal, but in some places the practice is tolerated, or the prohibition is not strictly enforced.

In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Zagreus () was a god sometimes identified with an Orphic Dionysus who was dismembered by the Titans and reborn. In the earliest mention of Zagreus, he is paired with Gaia and called the "highest" god, though perhaps only in reference to the gods of the underworld. Aeschylus, however, links Zagreus with Hades, possibly as Hades' son, or as Hades himself. Noting "Hades' identity as Zeus' katachthonios alter ego", Timothy Gantz postulated that Zagreus, originally the son of Hades and Persephone, later merged with the Orphic Dionysus, the son of Zeus and Pe

thumb|upright=.8|Canace in a Roman wall painting from Tor Marancia, Rome, 3rd century CE (Vatican Library) In Greek mythology, Canace (; ) was the daughter of Aeolus, the king of Thessaly, and Enarete, daughter of Deimachus. She is known for the story, told by Euripides and Ovid, of her incestuous relationship with her brother Macareus and her subsequent suicide.

2022 mass murder in Thailand

psalm in Book of Psalms

deliberate killing of newborn female children

March 2023 mass shooting at a Jehovah’s Witnesses' Kingdom Hall in Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany

son of Fatimahۜ bint Muhammadﷺ and علیؑ ibn Abi Talibؑ

Prime perpetrator of Kotobuki San'in incident (1897–1987)

process of killing newly hatched poultry for which the industry has no use

Neonaticide is the deliberate act of a parent murdering their own child during the first 24 hours of life. As a noun, the word "neonaticide" may also refer to anyone who practices or who has practiced this.

Swedish serial killer (1876–1917)

English surgeon and reformer (died 1862)

killing of young offspring by adult animals of the same species

artificial selection of the sex of offspring

homicide

cemetery in Tunisia

historical practice

executed Russian lady-in-waiting

Andrea Pia Yates is an American woman from Houston, Texas, who confessed to drowning her five children in their bathtub on June 20, 2001. The case of Yates—who had exhibited severe postpartum depression, postpartum psychosis, and schizophrenia in the years leading up to the murders—placed the M'Naghten rules, along with the irresistible impulse test for sanity, under close public scrutiny in the United States.

form of euthanasia that is applied to children who are gravely ill or suffer from significant birth defects

Terror attack during which a Palestinian sniper killed an Israeli infant

Israeli rabbi

New Zealander murderer (1844-1895)

terrorist incident in Algeria

ethical and physical thought experiment

British scientist (1814–1874)

Russian serial killer (1939-1979)

practice of abandoning unwanted infants to exposure in the wilderness

American serial killer (1943-2010)

Intentional killing of female infants in India

aspect of child abuse in Japan

attack

1942 atrocity in Croatia during World War II