Man charged with murder of five-year-old Australian Indigenous girl

Police in Australia’s Northern Territory say they have ⁠charged a man with murder in the killing of an Indigenous girl, days after the five-year-old’s death sparked protests in an outback town.

Jefferson Lewis, 47, was also ⁠charged with two other offences that cannot be publicly disclosed for legal reasons over the killing of Kumanjayi Little Baby, the name by which the victim is known in ⁠line with Indigenous custom, police said in a statement on Sunday.

“This is a horrific event and a horrific set of circumstances, and our thoughts remain strongly with the family,” Northern Territory Police Commissioner Martin Dole said in televised remarks from Alice Springs.

Lewis was charged on Saturday evening and will appear in court in the territory’s capital, Darwin, on Tuesday, police said.

The girl’s killing sparked protests by roughly 400 Indigenous people near Alice Springs late on Thursday following the capture of the suspect after he was found and beaten unconscious by locals. Lewis has past convictions for physical assault and had recently been released ⁠from prison.

An angry crowd clashed with police as Lewis was treated in hospital after his arrest. The protesters demanded officers hand over the suspect so they could punish him themselves.

Police used tear gas to ⁠disperse the protesters, and several people were arrested over what authorities described as a riot, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The girl disappeared from an Indigenous community camp, sparking a vast, days-long search on foot, horseback and by helicopter of the surrounding dense bushland. The victim’s body was found on Thursday.

“This is the tragic outcome we were all desperately hoping against. No words can measure up to the immensity of the grief her family is going through,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

Robin Granites, a spokesman for the family and an elder of the Warlpiri Indigenous group, said in a statement: “It is time now for sorry business, to show respect for our family and have space for grieving and remembering.”

Australia has ⁠struggled for decades to reconcile with its Indigenous people, who ⁠have inhabited the land for about 50,000 years and were brutally suppressed during British colonial rule. Indigenous Australians account for 3.8 percent of the population and face discrimination, poor health and education outcomes, and high incarceration rates.

Thousands, including ‌the victim and her family, live in camp communities where housing and services are often inadequate. A fifth of Alice Springs citizens are Indigenous.