Warning to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers: This article contains reference to a person who has died.
Violence broke out outside a hospital in Australia where a man suspected of murdering a five-year-old girl was being treated.
Jefferson Lewis was arrested in Alice Springs on Thursday night local time, after being spotted and allegedly assaulted by members of the local community.
Video shows dozens of people gathering outside the city’s hospital, some throwing projectiles, as police fire tear gas.
The body of the girl, identified only as Kumanjayi Little Baby for cultural reasons, was found earlier on Thursday.
She was last seen on Saturday, when she went to bed in a camp in an Aboriginal town near Alice Springs just before midnight.
Australia’s national broadcaster, the ABC, reported that a crowd of about 400 Aboriginal people outside the hospital shouted that Lewis would face “payment” and accused the police of protecting him.
“Payback” is the term for customary punishment under Central Australian Aboriginal law.
Many chanted that Kumanjayi should be executed for the alleged attack on the little baby, the ABC added.
Video from the scene shows the crowd pelting and throwing items at police. It seems that many police vehicles have been damaged.
Northern Territory Police Commissioner Martin Dole told the ABC Lewis was unconscious when officers found him.
Dole said about 200 people activated police and paramedics after responding to reports that Lewis was being attacked.
Several people, including members of the emergency services, were injured, but no arrests have been made in connection with the violent disorder.
Dole said the scenes outside the hospital were “not acceptable” and “did not reflect what we have seen from the community in Alice Springs over the last five days”.
Lewis has been flown from Alice Springs to Darwin and is in police custody, Dole said.
Lewis is expected to be charged in the coming days, Dole said.
Forensic tests will continue on Friday to confirm the girl’s identity and cause of death.
Police were searching the nearby bush and desert for Lewis, who was released from prison six days before Kumanjayi Little Baby went missing and at the same time went missing.
Dole said that everyone involved in the search for him hopes to be found alive.
“When we found that out yesterday [it was] Absolutely devastating for everyone involved,” he said.
Image of Kumanjayi toddler, used with permission of her family [Northern Territory Police]
In a statement, Kumanjayi’s little baby’s mother – whose name has not been released – said her daughter was loved and missed.
“It will be very difficult to live the rest of our lives without you.”
“We know you are in heaven with family and Jesus. Me and your brother will see you one day.”
The girl’s mother also thanked the dozens of people, both police and volunteers, who have spent the day searching the area around the Old Timers Camp – a site earmarked by the government for Aboriginal people to live in Alice Springs.
“Around 200 people have been working tirelessly to find this beautiful little girl who went missing five days ago,” said Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro.
“And for five days every Territorian has had their hearts in their throats waiting for the moment when we get the announcement that she has been found safe and well … everyone is devastated beyond belief.”
Using the names of deceased people, as well as broadcasting their images or voices, violates cultural protocols surrounding grief in many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and cannot be done without the permission of their families.
