Vigil to be held for murdered Indigenous girl

Mourners on Thursday will gather across Australia to hold vigils for a five-year-old Indigenous girl whose alleged ​abduction and murder shocked the nation and sparked riots ‌in the Outback town of Alice Springs.

The gatherings come a week after the girl was found dead by authorities following a five-day search involving ​hundreds of volunteers and police.

The disappearance and death of ​Kumanjayi Little Baby, the name by which the victim ⁠is known in line with Indigenous custom, dominated national ​headlines.

The subsequent arrest of a man suspected of abducting and murdering ​her triggered violent clashes in Alice Springs, with a crowd of 400 Indigenous people gathering to demand "payback," referring to traditional and mostly physical punishment in ​Aboriginal societies.

The Alice Springs community has since been conducting "sorry ​business," the mourning period and cultural practices that occur after an Indigenous person's ‌death.

The ⁠girl's family will hold a vigil in the Outback town on Thursday evening and others will be held across the country in remembrance of the girl.

Vigil organisers have asked attendees ​to bring candles ​and wear ⁠pink - the girl's favourite colour.

Kumanjayi Little Baby disappeared from her home on the outskirts of Alice ​Springs on the evening of April 25.

Hundreds ​of people ⁠were involved in a search effort to locate her, scouring dense bushland around the town, a popular tourist destination in Australia's ⁠Northern ​Territory.

Police on Sunday charged Jefferson Lewis, 47, ​with her murder and two other offences, which cannot be publicly disclosed for ​legal reasons.

-Reuters