In February 1775, a Danish woman killed her four-month-old baby.
In February 1775, a Danish woman killed her four-month-old baby. When the authorities found her with the dead child, she said that she would gladly die for her crime. Why did such a thing happen? Because at that time, murder was more forgivable than suicide. Crimes like this were part of a wave of suicide-murders in the 17th and 18th centuries . This wave had swept across much of Europe, but in Denmark these strange crimes happened with particular frequency. In the 18th century, there were one and a half suicide murders per 100,000 inhabitants in Copenhagen. In Stockholm, there were 0.6 to 0.8 cases per 100,000 citizens - and in Hamburg, 0.4 to 0.5. Crazy as it may sound, people committed murders just to be executed. They found out beforehand exactly what crimes were punishable by death to make sure they would be killed. At that time, suicide was not only a crime, but also meant that the soul was eternally condemned to hell. Murderers, on the other hand, if they deeply repented of the