Man charged with murder and sexual assault of 5-year-old Australian girl

Warning for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers: this article contains references to someone who has died.

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.

Ahead of the release, Dole told reporters: "What you will see in this footage is not people processing grief in relation to the death of Baby Kumanjayi.

"What you will see is criminal behaviour, plain and simple," the commissioner said.

Property damage and stolen items from a petrol station and supermarket is estimated to cost more than A$180,000 ($130,000; £95,000), police said.

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.

Kumanjayi Little Baby disappeared last Saturday after she was put to bed at an Aboriginal town camp near Alice Springs just before midnight.