Hundreds of Australians gathered at candlelit vigils across the country on Thursday to mourn the death of Kumanjayi Little Baby, a five-year-old Warlpiri girl whose body was found last week after a five-day search in Australia's remote Outback. The child's passing has prompted an outpouring of grief, as well as a sharp debate over whether political figures are exploiting the tragedy.

Kumanjayi Little Baby — whose given name is no longer used in accordance with Aboriginal cultural protocols following death — was last seen by her mother at 11.30pm on 25 April at the Old Timers/Ilyperenye town camp in Alice Springs, a remote city in Australia's Northern Territory and a significant centre for the Warlpiri and other First Nations communities. After a frantic search involving hundreds of volunteers and more than 200 police and emergency workers, her body was discovered five kilometres from where she was last seen alive. A 47-year-old man, Jefferson Lewis, who was unrelated to the girl or her family, was subsequently arrested and charged with murder.

Vigils were held in Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and other cities. At the Aborigines Advancement League in Melbourne, around 400 people gathered under Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags flown at half-mast, dressed in pink — the girl's favourite colour — and participating in a smoking ceremony. In Canberra, mourners clustered around the Aboriginal Tent Embassy near Old Parliament House in near silence, holding candles as the sunset faded. Organisers across cities asked attendees to leave flags at home and to gather in