Hundreds of mourners have gathered for a sombre funeral service for Kumanjayi Little Baby, months after the five-year-old’s disappearance triggered one of the largest search operations in Northern Territory history.
Under grey skies in Alice Springs on Saturday, many in the crowd wore pink, while others arrived in T-shirts printed with the young girl’s face.
The child, referred to for cultural reasons as Kumanjayi Little Baby, was allegedly taken from the Old Timers camp in Alice Springs in April.
Her body was discovered five days later.
Jefferson Lewis, who was not known to Kumanjayi Little Baby, has been charged with her murder and is awaiting trial.
His arrest led to unrest outside Alice Springs Hospital, where angry residents demanded he be handed over to face traditional justice.
The 47-year-old was later flown to Darwin, where he remains ahead of his murder trial.
Robin Japanangka Granites, the girl’s grandfather and a Warlpiri Elder, thanked the community for helping search for her and for standing by his family as they came together for the funeral after an immensely difficult period.
Kumanjayi Little Baby (pictured) was allegedly abducted from the Old Timers camp in Alice Spring in April. Her body was found five days later
Mourners attended the funeral for the five-year-old at Alice Springs Garden Cemetery on Saturday morning
Granites family spokesperson, Warlpiri elder Robin Granites thanked the community for their efforts to find her
Kumanjayi Little Baby would be with our ‘father in heaven’, Mr Granites said.
He had opened the funeral to the public to allow the community to grieve as one at the Alice Springs Garden Cemetery from 10am to 1pm on Saturday.
Mourners, who attended in the hundreds, were asked to wear the little girl’s favourite colour, pink.
Relatives cried together as they surrounded a small coffin covered in pictures of roses and adorned with pink flowers atop the casket.
In a eulogy read on her behalf, Kumanjayi Little Baby’s mother Jacinta Roy urged her daughter be remembered for who she was, not just her death.
She loved watching Masha and the Bear and Bluey, as well as playing games on her mum’s phone, Ms Roy said. The young girl also loved cuddling puppies and the colour pink.
‘As a mother, my heart breaks into a million pieces. I miss her,’ she said.
‘As a Christian, I would like to thank Father, Son and Holy Spirit for gifting me with a beautiful, precious little baby girl for the precious time that I was her mother here on Earth.’
Mourners wore pink, which was Kumanjayi Little Baby’s favourite colour
Mr Granites said Kumanjayi Little Baby would be with our ‘father in heaven’
Dozens of mourners paid their respects to the little girl
It marked four months since Kumanjayi Little Baby was found dead and, earlier in August, her grandmother Karen White, aunt to the child’s mother Jacinta White, told Our News Outlet on August 7 that it was ‘taking too long’.
Ms White blamed ‘people’ for the hold up but without clarifying exactly who was responsible for the delay.
But Mr Granites said finishing traditional ‘sorry business’ mourning and alerting relatives in remote communities had taken time and some attendees were travelling from Yuendumu – 300km from Alice Springs.
‘I know it’s a bit late, but people needed to be told what was going on,’ he said.
‘A lot of people are in isolated communities and some don’t have phones. We needed to make sure the rightful people knew what was going on.’
Mr Granites also revealed Kumanjayi’s father, Raphael Granites, was being released from prison to attend his daughter’s funeral.
‘He’ll be in there for quite a while, but he is coming out for it,’ Mr Granites said.
Sweeping changes have been recommended for the NT’s child protection system after a review found workers repeatedly failed to adequately assess safety threats to Kumanjayi Little Baby’s family.
The independent review, led by former NSW police commissioner Karen Webb and senior public servant Greg Shanahan, was tabled in the NT parliament in July.
Despite repeated indicators of domestic and family violence, the implications for the child’s safety were not adequately recognised and protective responses were not pursued in a timely manner, the report found.
It found a domestic and family violence risk assessment was never completed and, as a result, an ongoing pattern of violence in the child’s life and family environment was not fully recognised.
Operational delays were driven by high workloads and capacity issues, including retention and recruitment challenges in remote areas, the report said.
13YARN 13 92 76
Lifeline 13 11 14
