Montreal woman fatally stabbed in front of kids tried to leave husband, relative says

The 29-year-old Montreal woman who was fatally stabbed in front of her three children Thursday morning did everything she could to get away from her abusive husband, says a relative.

"After he was arrested by the police for domestic violence, he kept saying he was going to find her to kill her," said Daniela Gangangte.

"She had run away from him. She managed to find a new place to live with relatives. I do not understand how he was able to know where she had taken refuge."

Police sources told Radio-Canada the woman was attacked while loading her children into a car to take them to daycare. The children are aged two months, one year and four years old.

The stabbing happened in a parking lot outside a residential building on des Oblats Street, near Wanklyn Street, in the LaSalle borough. Police were called to the scene at about 8:45 a.m.

The woman was found with at least one stab wound to her upper body and was taken to hospital in critical condition. She died of her injuries late Thursday afternoon, making her the 22nd homicide victim on the island of Montreal this year.

A 50-year-old man, who allegedly fled the scene, was arrested later that night. Police declined to name him at first, but said he was known to police and by the victim.

Hosea Amorus Puhya has since been charged in a Montreal courthouse with first-degree murder.

Gangangte said the 29-year-old woman did everything she was advised to do to get away from her abuser. CBC News is not naming the victim to protect the children's identity.

"It was her husband who sponsored her to come and live in Canada. They are both from Cameroon. As soon as she arrived, he started being violent. He was someone who constantly hit her," said Gangangte. 

The victim complained to the police on more than one occasion, left home and contacted a social worker at her local health service centre, known as a CLSC, Radio-Canada has learned.

This is not Puhya's first arrest. He has three cases of violence and armed assault on file at the Montreal courthouse.

For example, he was charged with uttering threats in the context of domestic violence on Sept. 12, 2021.

Due to non-compliance with conditions of his release, he served a prison term until last June, Radio-Canada reports.

The 29-year-old was the eighth woman in Quebec to be murdered in 2022 — the same year Quebec has rolled out a new tracking system for violent spouses.

The tracking system involves attaching a bracelet to the offender. The bracelet alerts the victim if the offender is within a radius of one kilometre of their location.

In December, Quebec announced the rollout of the tracking devices as the latest in the government's series of initiatives to fight domestic violence.

By the end of the fall, Quebec is aiming to have 500 devices available to the courts to impose on individuals who commit domestic violence.