Man charged with murder and sexual assault of 5-year-old Australian girl-
Police in Australia’s Northern Territory (NT) have charged a man with murder and two counts of sexual assault following the death of a five-year-old girl.
The body of the girl, who is identified only as Kumanjayi Little Baby for cultural reasons, was discovered on Thursday following severals days of a major police search.
Jefferson Lewis, 47, was charged with her murder on Saturday night and has been scheduled to appear in a Darwin court on Tuesday.
Five people have been arrested over violent riots in Alice Springs sparked by the child’s death.
Man charged with murder and sexual assault of 5-year-old Australian girl
3 hours ago
Share
Save
Police in Australia’s Northern Territory (NT) have charged a man with murder and two counts of sexual assault following the death of a five-year-old girl.
The body of the girl, who is identified only as Kumanjayi Little Baby for cultural reasons, was discovered on Thursday following severals days of a major police search.
Jefferson Lewis, 47, was charged with her murder on Saturday night and has been scheduled to appear in a Darwin court on Tuesday.
Five people have been arrested over violent riots in Alice Springs sparked by the child’s death.
Northern Territory Police Commissioner Martin Dole announced the charges against Lewis on Sunday morning.
“This remains a deeply distressing matter and our thoughts are firmly with Kumanjayi’s family, loved ones and the wider community that have been deeply impacted by these events,” he said.
Dole asked for the community to respect the judicial process.
Lewis was reportedly attacked in the central Australian town before he was arrested on Thursday.Violent riots outside the Alice Spring hospital where he was being treated for injuries led police to move him to the city of Darwin approximately 1,500km (930 miles) north of the town.
Video shows dozens of people gathering outside the town’s hospital on Thursday night, some throwing projectiles, with police using tear gas.
Protesters are also seen attacking police vehicles, with at least one van appearing to be set ablaze.
Dole called the riots “disgusting” and “abhorrent”.
Police released further footage appearing to show crowds swarming a petrol station near the hospital and collecting items from the shelves before leaving hastily.
Violence in Australian town after arrest of man over girl’s murder
2 days ago
There has been violence outside an Australian hospital where a man suspected of murdering a five-year-old girl was being treated, as police said they were “coming for” anyone who may have helped him.
Jefferson Lewis was arrested late on Thursday night local time in Alice Springs, after being seen by members of the local community and reportedly attacked.
Video shows dozens of people gathering outside the town’s hospital, some throwing projectiles, with police using tear gas.
The body of the girl, who is identified only as Kumanjayi Little Baby for cultural reasons, was discovered earlier on Thursday.
She had last been seen on Saturday, when she was put to bed at an Aboriginal town camp near Alice Springs just before midnight.
Australia’s national broadcaster, the ABC, reported that some in the crowd outside the hospital yelled that Lewis needed to face “payback” and accused the police of protecting him.
“Payback” is term for traditional punishment under Aboriginal customary law in Central Australia – usually carried out by elders to try and achieve harmony between Indigenous families and groups.
But at a press conference Michael Liddle an Alyawarre man and Alice Springs local said that traditional payback was “carefully constructed and carried out” rather than seeking quick revenge.
“Bringing the word ‘payback’ into this scenario just fuels violence,” he said,
“There’s a system set up here, where there is a person in custody and the Western rules will deal with that person.”Video from the scene shows crowds throwing items towards police and items being thrown. Several police vehicles appear to have been damaged.
Northern Territory Police Commissioner Martin Dole said in an update on Friday morning Lewis had been subjected to a “sustained attack” and was unconscious when police arrived and arrested him.Dole said about 200 people turned on police and paramedics as they responded to reports Lewis was being assaulted.
Several people including members of the emergency services were injured, and at least one person had been arrested for attempting to set fire to a police vehicle with more arrests expected.
Dole said the scenes outside the hospital “cannot be explained away, excused or accepted”. He earlier told ABC they were not “reflective of what we’ve seen from the community of Alice Springs in the last five days”.Lewis’s injuries were not “significant enough to keep him in hospital” and he has been flown from Alice Springs to Darwin and taken into police custody, Dole said.
Charges are expected to be laid against Lewis in the coming days, Dole said. He also said that police were certain somebody in the community had been helping him, and warned “we’re coming for you as well”.
Forensic test to confirm the young girl’s identity and cause of death will continue on Friday.
Kumanjayi Little Baby’s grandfather called for calm on Friday.
Translate This Article
