Woman stabbed to death at park called a femicide; murder charge laid

Ottawa Police are calling the stabbing that happened Thursday morning in a park on Uplands Drive a femicide.

Officials said on Friday morning they charged 36-year-old Fsha Tekhle of Montreal with first-degree murder in connection to the fatal stabbing. He had a domestic relationship with a family member of the victim, Brkti Berche, 36.

A femicide is defined as the killing of women and girls because of their gender. It can be often driven by stereotypes and discrimination towards females or unequal power relations, the press release reads.

Police note their definition of femicide is “the misogynist killing of women and girls because of their gender, overwhelmingly committed by men.”  

This marks the second time police are using the term “femicide” since the force decided to use it for gender-related crimes in 2022.

Berche was at a park at around 10:26 a.m. on Oct. 24 when she was stabbed. A suspect was seen fleeing the area of Uplands Drive and Paul Anka Drive in a vehicle.

Tekhle was arrested on Highway 417 outside of Ottawa near exit 66 in Casselman, southeast of the nation’s capital.

The accused is scheduled to appear in court on Friday morning.

The number of homicides in Ottawa has stayed consistent over the last several years, with police investigating either 15 or 16 cases annually over the last three years. This is a decrease from 24 homicide investigations in 2016.