2 men charged with neglecting human remains after Inuk woman's body found in Montreal
Alasie Tukkiapik, 41, was found dead in a Montreal home in September
Two men are facing charges related to improper handling of human remains after the body of an Inuk woman from Nunavik was found in their Montreal home.
The deceased woman, Alasie Tukkiapik — aged 41 and originally from Kangiqsujuaq, Nunavik — had been last seen in Montreal in March. In September, police found her body in the Montreal home.
The Quebec coroner's office said its investigation into Tukkuapik's death is ongoing and said it doesn't know when the coroner will release a report.
On Sept. 19, Nicodemo Sansalone was charged, and on Oct. 20, Francesco Sansalone was charged.
The charges against Francesco say that between March 1 and Sept. 18, he neglected and/or improperly or indecently interfered with a dead human body. The charge against Nicodemo specifies the alleged crime was "on or about" Sept. 18.
A Montreal organization is calling for more investigation into Tukkiapik's death.
Laura Aguiar works with the Native Women's Shelter of Montreal and is the project coordinator of Iskweu, an initiative to support family and friends of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
She says police found the body after Iskweu, with support from the family, pressed them to search the apartment and said that more needs to be done to investigate Tukkiapik's death.
"The way that we get justice and answers about these situations is by being very loud, by being vocal, by continuing to keep the pressure on people, on police, on institutions and individual people in power to try and hold them accountable to do their jobs and to find justice," Aguiar said.
She said that Tukkuapik's sister came to Montreal begging for the police to do more.
"We are ready to fight for Alasie, to make sure that she gets proper answers and justice about her death."
The Montreal police told CBC that they have finished their investigation and that the case is now with the public prosecution service. They did not comment on how Tukkuapik died.
The accused are scheduled to appear in Quebec provincial court on Jan. 24. They have not yet entered pleas.
Aguiar says she didn't have the opportunity to meet Tukkiapik herself but that she was a friend to a lot of people and "a really gentle person."
"From knowing her family and some of her friends, I can just see the sort of impact that Alasie had and how much she's missed by everyone."
Written by Natalie Pressman with files from Salome Avva