BAKER LAKE - The RCMP are looking at a "person of interest" concerning a case of grave disturbing and possible sexual interference with a dead body in Baker Lake.

RCMP Const. Patrice Rousseau said there have been four or five female bodies disturbed at the Baker cemetery in the past two or three years.

He confirmed the most recent female body to be disturbed was found with its pants pulled down.

"We have sent DNA samples to the lab for analysis and are waiting for the results," said Rousseau.

"We took swabs from the body to determine what types of fluid were present.

"As far as anyone practising dark magic or necromancy in the community, we are not aware of it.

"There are many sex offenders here in town, so there might be more than one person of interest, but, there is one in particular who we're interested in with the most recent case."

Rousseau said there were no witnesses to the act, and police only have suspicion at this point until they receive the lab results.

He said the RCMP are taking the matter very seriously and hope to have it resolved quickly.

"We're following normal procedure and it takes time for the lab to conduct its analysis and return its findings.

"It might take a couple of weeks, or a couple of months, to receive the results.

"We have to be patient until we get the results back from the lab."

Former Nunavut commissioner Peter Irniq learned of the situation while in Baker earlier this month.

Irniq said he was shocked to see some of the caskets have been encased in solid cement to keep grave disturbers away.

He said whatever's going on is terribly wrong.

"This problem needs to be resolved because this type of behaviour is simply not acceptable," said Irniq.

"Inuit culture has always been for us to bury our people above ground.

"Traditionally, we would put a circle of rocks around the grave and a caribou skin or two on top of the dead person, and nobody would ever think of disturbing a grave."

Irniq met with people in the community to discuss the problem while in Baker.

He said they were very upset about the situation and would appreciate any help in resolving the matter.

"Even though I no longer hold public office, I'm still as concerned as ever when I see something wrong and will do what I can to help right it.

"This is something I feel very strongly about because it's not part of Inuit culture, or any other culture for that matter.

"It is not acceptable to disturb the graves of those who have died and are supposed to rest in peace."

Irniq said some women in Baker now want to be buried across the lake where no one can reach them.

He said others are talking about being cremated because of worry in the community over the possibility of the disturbed bodies being sexually abused.

"This is going to the extreme in my opinion, but we need to solve this problem immediately.

"It's scary to know this is happening and it's something I've never seen in an Inuit community before.

"Whatever's going on is really weird, disturbing, maddening and frustrating.

"We have to do something quickly before it gets totally out of hand."

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.