Clashes erupt in Australia after killing of indigenous child

Hundreds of protesters clashed with Australian emergency services ​workers in a remote town following the arrest of a man suspected of murdering a 5-year-old Indigenous girl, police said ‌on May 1.

Australia's Prime Minister, the Northern Territory's police commissioner and a spokesperson for the victim's family all appealed for calm after an angry crowd of roughly 400 Indigenous people gathered on the night of April 30 at the hospital where the suspect was taken after being beaten unconscious by locals, Reuters reports. 

Footage of the protests from public broadcaster ABC showed members of ​the crowd calling for payback, which refers to traditional, mostly physical, punishment in Aboriginal societies.

They threw projectiles and lit fires, injuring a ​number of police officers and medical workers, while also damaging police vehicles, ambulances and fire trucks. Police used tear ⁠gas to disperse the protesters.

Jefferson Lewis, a 47-year-old man who police say they believe abducted and killed the ​girl, presented himself to one of the town camps in Alice Springs, Northern Territory Police Commissioner Martin Dole said at a news conference.

"As a result ​of presenting himself, members of that town camp decided to inflict vigilante justice upon Jefferson," he said.

The girl, now referred to by her family as Kumanjayi Little Baby in line with Indigenous customs, went missing from her home on the outskirts of Alice Springs late on April 25.

Her body was located on Aby one of hundreds ​of people searching the dense bushland around the town, a popular tourist destination in Australia's Northern Territory.

Lewis, who was identified as a suspect by ​police earlier in the week, has past convictions for physical assaults and was recently released from prison.

He is likely to be charged in the coming days.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he understood "people's anger and frustration" but urged the community to come together.

Australia has struggled for decades to reconcile with its Indigenous population, who have inhabited the land for some 50,000 years but were marginalised by British colonial rulers.

Indigenous Australians ⁠make up ​around 3.8% of Australia's population of about 27 million, but track near the bottom ​in almost every economic and social indicator and have disproportionately high rates of suicide and incarceration.

Thousands, including the victim and her family, live in communities known as camps on the outskirts ​of Alice Springs, where housing and services are often inadequate.

By Sabina Mammadli