The mother of a slain Windsor woman is speaking out about the loss of her daughter and seeking reform in the way domestic violence is identified and reported.
Fartumo Kusow, the mother of Sahra Bulle, spoke to CTV Windsor and says it's been difficult waking up each day realizing that her daughter is gone.
36-year-old Sahra Bulle was reported missing on May 26, her estranged husband was then arrested June 5th around 9 p.m. near the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel and was charged with first-degree murder.
37-year-old Sahra Bulle, whose body was found in a field in early June. (Photo: Windsor Police Service)
After an 18-year-long relationship with the accused, Bulle voluntarily checked herself into the Hiatus House on May 8.
Kusow says in light of her daughter's death, she wants to see reform when it comes to reporting domestic violence at the hospital level.
She says the entire family is struggling with the loss of Bulle.
"Trying to get through the day, mornings have been really difficult waking up and kind of like realizing this is real."
She says her daughter loved her husband.
"She loved this man who now is accused of her murder. She loved him. She loved him to an explainable level."
Kusow says over the years Bulle never reported her husband for domestic violence throughout their on-and-off relationship, and it was a big step for her to check herself into the Hiatus House to receive help.
"That was actually my birthday and I thought that was the best birthday that she could have ever given me for deciding that she was going to check herself there."
She adds that her daughter cared deeply for her husband.
"She really, she deserved so much better. And her only crime is she was loyal."
Kusow says her family doesn't want Bulle's death to be in vain.
"If any woman listening this could hear that one time, is one time too many."
She believes victims of abuse should be able to get a risk assessment from a medical professional who could in turn report domestic abuse in a way that protects patient confidentiality.
"I don't know if it would have saved her. But I don't think she ever appreciated the danger she was in, in the place she was, in the place she was supposed to be the most safe."
Bulle worked in the service department of a car dealership in Windsor and was working towards finishing her criminology degree at the University of Windsor.
-with files from CTV Windsor's Rich Garton