An angry crowd rioted outside an Australian Outback hospital where a man accused of killing a 5-year-old girl was treated for injuries sustained in a vigilante beating.
The suspect, Jefferson Lewis, allegedly abducted the girl from an Indigenous community near Alice Springs in central Australia over the weekend. The body of the girl, referred to as Kumanjayi Little Baby due to an Indigenous ban on naming the deceased, was discovered on Thursday.
According to police, Lewis had been beaten unconscious by a mob before officers arrested him at the Indigenous community later that day. He was subsequently taken to Alice Springs Hospital, where hundreds of people gathered late Thursday, demanding he face so-called payback under customary law, which can involve spearing or beating.
Authorities fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowd, and several police vehicles were damaged during the unrest.
The hospital discharged Lewis into police custody, and he was flown to the Northern Territory capital of Darwin, approximately 1,500 kilometers (900 miles) to the north, for his own safety. He is expected to face charges on Friday.
