{
  "id": 17540567,
  "title": "Parents who kill children: Study flags sentencing disparities and calls for national register",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/01/parents-who-kill-children-study-flags-sentencing-disparities-and",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-01T05:16:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "IOL",
    "slug": "iol",
    "url": "https://iol.co.za/news/crime-and-courts/2026-11-01-filicide-study-urges-national-register-and-sentencing-guidelines/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "A study by Dr Safia Mahomed of the University of South Africa has highlighted significant sentencing disparities and the need for a national register to track filicide, the act of parents or parental figures killing their children. The research argues that current police systems do not routinely record the relationship between killer and victim, leading to inconsistent sentencing and making it difficult to measure the prevalence of filicide. The study calls for national sentencing guidelines, compulsory mental health assessments before sentencing, and a dedicated filicide register. South Africa, currently lacking reliable national figures on filicide, sees about 28 children violently attacked daily and roughly three killed daily. The study found that filicide is often linked to factors such as domestic violence, untreated mental illness, financial stress, and gaps in child protection, and that it tends to occur where these elements overlap. The research also notes a gendered pattern in sentencing, with mothers facing harsher sentences for failing the ideal of motherhood, while fathers with mental illness often receive more lenient sentences.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}