The heart-breaking note is scrawled in shaky handwriting: “Dad abuses me” reads the cry for help received by the son of an elderly Ottawa woman. Having been barred from the family home by his mother’s abusive husband, the man immediately reported the matter to the Ottawa police. But the report and the woman’s desperate attempt to draw attention to her plight brought no relief for the housebound victim.

Police negligence has dire consequences

Police questioned the woman in the presence of her abuser, a clear breach of ethics which resulted in the inevitable finding that there “was no abuse”. They later admitted that this should not have been done, but failed to re-investigate the case.

The facts paint a grim picture. Within four weeks, the already frail woman’s condition had deteriorated to the point where she was no longer able to walk or speak. Before and after pictures show a neat, elderly woman reduced to a state of obvious neglect and physical deterioration within a few short weeks.

Could this be you – or your mother?

The case would ordinarily seem to be clear: a man who had previously attacked and severely wounded his wife’s son and caregiver with a knife is accused of abuse by his frail wife. But instead of ensuring that the woman is offered a safe environment in which to state her case, she is questioned in front of the man she fears the most, and is then returned to his ‘care’ with catastrophic results.

Could this be an isolated incident, or do the Ottawa Police routinely handle cases of domestic abuse and neglect of the elderly in this slipshod manner? Are Canadian women still regarded as the chattels of their husbands? This particular case history demonstrates a disturbing lack of due diligence on the part of Ottawa police and illustrates the shocking consequences of police negligence on a human life.