Spousal homicides need psychiatric lens, not moral outrage: Experts

Mental health experts have urged policymakers to view premeditated intimate partner killings as a preventable public health crisis rather than isolated crimes, stressing that such acts stem from personality vulnerabilities, emotional dysregulation and systemic failures, not severe mental illness

Hyderabad: The recent shocking instances of intimate partner homicides, where husbands and wives kill each other by involving their extramarital partners in a premeditated fashion, are usually met with moral outrage. However, mental health experts are now urging people and policy makers to stop viewing these incidents as mere ‘true crime’ stories and start seeing them as a preventable public health crisis.

Senior psychiatrist and National Council Member of Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) Dr Vishal Akula, who recently conducted a review of publicly reported killings of husbands/wives by their spouses between 2024 and 2026 across India, points out that such incidents should not be reduced to just moral outrage or blame it on one gender.

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“Such cases require a psychiatric and public-health lens that examines personality vulnerabilities, relationship dynamics, and systemic failures that allow violence to escalate unchecked, ” Dr Vishal, Head, Psychiatry, Government Medical College, Jagtial, said.

Bringing a global perspective to the issue, Dr Vishal makes it clear that worldwide evidence suggests that intimate partner killings are not linked to severe mental illness.

“They are often associated with maladaptive personality traits, emotional dysregulation and perceived absence of acceptable routes from relational crises,” he said.

Across multiple cases where partners (husbands/wives) get killed, violence was largely premeditated rather than impulsive. There was evidence of planning, concealment, and post-offence behaviour aimed at evading detection, which are features incompatible with psychosis or loss of reality testing, Dr Vishal pointed out.

The senior psychiatrist also made it clear that perpetrators of such violence cannot take cover under the plea of ‘temporary insanity’.

“Contrary to popular assumptions, psychosis was notably absent in most reported cases. Perpetrators demonstrated intact planning, reality testing, and goal-directed behaviour. Framing such acts as the result of ‘temporary insanity’ is not only inaccurate but also dangerous, as it diverts attention from preventable risk factors,” says Dr Vishal.

Such homicides linked to extramarital affairs represent a preventable endpoint of relational violence. These acts are not driven by psychosis or explained by gender alone. They emerge from a complex interaction of personality vulnerabilities, cognitive distortions, emotional dysregulation, and systemic failures. A psychiatric and public-health framework can go a long way in preventing such events, Dr Vishal pointed out.

Roadmap to prevent intimate partner homicides:
• Early detection by training primary doctors to spot coercive control and emotional instability
• Integrate mental health services into family courts and community centres
• Destigmatization by shifting cultural narrative to prioritise human safety over marital image
• Social stigma involves shame of divorce/affair leaves individuals feeling trapped
• Warning signs include obsessive secrecy and control that go unaddressed
• Such developments should be seen/considered as public health crisis