Puvirnituq woman dies from injuries suffered in October assault
18-year-old man in custody, as Quebec provincial police take over investigation
Quebec’s provincial police took over the investigation after a Puvirnituq woman died from injuries suffered in an assault last month. (Photo by Cedric Gallant)
A Puvirnituq woman has died from injuries she suffered in an assault last month. Quebec’s provincial police have taken over the investigation, and an 18-year-old man remains in custody in connection with the assault.
On Oct. 23 at around 10:45 p.m., the Nunavik Police Service responded to a report of a woman having been assaulted, said Sûreté du Québec spokesperson Sgt. Nancy Fournier.
The woman, who was in her 60s, was found unconscious and seriously injured. She was transported to hospital, then medevaced to Montreal for medical care.
A suspect, 18-year-old Alex Amittuq, was arrested at the scene and charged with aggravated assault. He remains in custody, Fournier said.
After the woman died from her injuries on Nov. 8, the investigation was taken over by Quebec provincial police.
No further charges have been laid against Amittuq because the investigation is ongoing, Fournier said.
She did not have a date for his next court appearance.
According to Quebec’s Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions, in separate incidents Amittuq was charged with sexual assault on July 23 and then with aggravated assault with a weapon on July 30.
In a French interview, Nunavik Police Service Capt. Patrice Abel said Amittuq had been released from detention on those charges prior to the Oct. 23 assault of the Puvirnituq woman.
“This story, for me, has taken proportions that could have been avoidable,” Abel said.
“It seems like justice in Nunavik is not at the same speed as the one in the south, we are stuck in a system that has a logistic burden.”
Abel added: “In my opinion, we have a tendency to release individuals after a criminal infraction too rapidly,” noting that in court, the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions opposed Amittuq’s release on the July charges.
Without assigning blame, Abel pointed to factors in the justice system unique to Nunavik — a lack of infrastructure to hold detainees, and the cost of transporting prisoners to a detention centre.
“It has been years that we asked Quebec’s public security ministry for a detention centre that would cover Nunavik completely,” he said, adding that the cost of transporting detainees is “astronomical.”
Abel said Nunavik’s incarceration system is overburdened at multiple levels, “it goes far deeper, the problem is not me that just decided to talk about it, it has been existing in the North for a long time.”
“Are we able to find a solution, do we have a will to find them?” he asked. “Unfortunately, we are starting to tell ourselves to cross our fingers for situations like this to not happen too often.”
When $ were presented to build Nunavik detention center way back when, leaders decided to use $ for preventive measures, as it was going to be costly for a regional detention center. It’s not working, time for change. A regional detention center would be good-maybe Akpatok Island or center of Nunavik.
Sure, let’s build Alcatraz.
That island is a part of nunavut lol and do u know how much this would cost let alone to maintain? and for what? all that for it to be minimum security?
I think Polar bears would be willing to work for a free meal, mind your humans are not fat like seals.
The real problem here is alcohol, once that is eliminated 90% of assaults, sexual assaults, murder will be gone.
A expensive building to store people will not help, once they are full whats the option? Build more expensive human storage facilities?
What is the cause of high alcohol consumption? Why do people have to drink to get drunk?
That is where the issues are and they are most of the time brushed under the rug and pretend everything is ok.
No one wants to admit alcohol consumption is the number one cause of all these problems and no one wants to deal with it.
There’s been less violence in Kuujjuaq in my life since the town stopped restricting alcohol. Bootleggers aren’t trying as much to control access and get more business through violence, either. Dry communities across Nunavut and Nunavik have lots of alcohol related crimes too…
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Booze is often a part of crimes sure, but it isn’t the cause of them. Taking away booze won’t take away crime.
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We gotta stop wasting our time on prohibition, we know it didnt work down south and we know it doesnt work up here!
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Focus on the real issue and real questions, not the easy answers that we already know are wrong
Yes Akpatuk island.
Another alcohol related death. Life , still on the decline in nunavik.
My deep deep condolences and my prayers to the family affected . Air hugs.
And i pray for your community Our neighbours to the north.
The Nunavik court system is still very colonial and the response to all situations is jail in the south. There is no local court and the flying circus is coming to the communities with people from the south who don’t know much about the communities and don’t even speak the language..
Jails don’t solve serious problems like intoxication by alcohol or drugs and an approach that would be closer to the Inuit culture would have better chances to work. In the West, they have Community Safety Officers that are first responders to any incident in the communities and crime was reduced by half with this program that is closer to the communities and where the officers are members of the community, They don’t have firearms and don’t charge people and if that’s needed they call the RCMP for assistance.
In terms of addictions, that should be addressed by using treatment centres instead of the courts and jail. Thinking that people will be cured for their addictions by a jail term is a pie in the sky and research has shown that it instead increases the risks of violence and recidivism.