Biomedicine

Abstract

Dyadic death or homicide-suicide is a rare combination of murder followed by suicide by the perpetrator. The culprit usually attempts self-annihilation due to extreme degree of guilt or attempt to escape from criminal punishment. An elderly couple’s dead bodies were found by the home nurse when she came for duty. Old lady was found on her bed with a pillow on her face and the husband of the lady was found hanging in the adjacent room. The lady was bedridden for the last 7 years due to a stroke and home nurses were employed for the care. The husband was the main caregiver. The rapid urbanization and children moving towards greener pastures leads to home alone elderly people all over the world. Old age homes are alarmingly mushrooming everywhere and not contributing much to alleviate the stress of geriatric groups. Psychological autopsy, crime scene investigation and other corroborative findings helped to conclude the case as Dyadic Death. The caregiver burnout syndrome is an important entity in this case.