MONTREAL -- Provincial police are investigating the deaths of a man and a woman in northern Quebec.
The pair has been identified as Peter Ainalik, 44, and Kataluk Paningayak-Naluiyuk, 43, who were found without vital signs in Ivujivik the evening of March 25 and later pronounced dead in hospital. Ivujivik is approximately 2,000 kilometres north of Montreal and is Quebec's northernmost community in the region of Nunavik.
Surete du Quebec spokesperson Anick Lamirande said autopsies will be done this week to determine the cause of death. She wouldn’t confirm a media report that the case is being suspected as a possible murder-suicide.
The woman’s daughter told La Presse the victim was in an abusive relationship with Ainalik, and he once broke her ribs. She said the woman was a mother of six with a big heart and who needed help.
Surete du Quebec is the lead in the investigation, but investigators are working with their counterparts in the Kativik Regional Police Force.
Police would not release any further details pending the results of the autopsies.
