When Minds Snap !

Australia was shocked this week when television news brought graphic pictures from a Brisbane street. A relationship breakdown ended when an estranged husband approached a car containing his wife and their three children aged  six, four and three.  He was carrying a can of petrol and he threw the liquid over them - and lit a match.

The vapour exploded and the car interior became a fireball.  As his family burned the man produced a knife and ended his own life.  Rescuers pulled the burning woman from the vehicle, but she died a few hours later in hospital.

Unfortunately, rage and violence over broken relationships has become common in our society and that was exactly what the Family Court was established to counter.  It granted "no fault divorce "in which decisions were supposed to be made in a fair and equal atmosphere to decider the division of assets and the living arrangements of any children from the union.

It seems reasonable to suppose that there were warning signs that went unheeded.  The separating couple together ran a gym and she had been a  trampolining champion.  The police had been called to their home on several occasions to settle what were termed "domestic violence issues ".  On Boxing day the husband kidnapped one of his daughters and took her interstate for several days.

It is a fact of life that a vast number of relationships - both married and de facto - end in some sort of argument. Fortunately, most eventually settle but domestic violence is often prevalent both before and after the separation actually takes place.  It is impossible to accurately predict which ones will end in a violent murder.

Women's groups have been calling for early intervention, but both genders are capable of violence. Often the male has the physique to dominate and respite where a woman may find shelter is in very short supply. Often the area of conflict are the children.  This introduces an "ownership "issue that can not be decided by any sort of intervention.  Extreme passion comes into play and sometimes bizarre actions follow.  Court orders are usually ignored.

Domestic violence is often followed by the relationship being re-established.  There are promises of change and it seems some women are attracted to violent partners.  This pattern of violence is repeated during many relationship changes and the police are actually verbally abused when they intervene.  Refusal to press charges follow.

So far, no practical solution to domestic violence has been forthcoming beyond a greater quantity of  secure emergency accommodation into which those fleeing a violent relationship are able to gain access.  Fortunately, it is rare for a relationship breakdown to trigger action similar to that which occurred in Brisbane when a father who previously showed love and affection for his children took the extreme step of delivering death to them and his partner before ending his own life.

Such is the complexity of the human mind  !