Arabic version: تحديد موعد جنازة كومانجاي ليتل بيبي

According to ABC News, the family of five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby has set Saturday, August 15, for her funeral at Alice Springs Garden Cemetery. The service is scheduled to run from 10am to 1pm, and the family has invited the wider community to attend.

Kumanjayi Little Baby went missing from Old Timers/Ilyperenye town camp, south of the Alice Springs township, in late April. Her disappearance prompted one of the largest searches in Northern Territory police history, with hundreds of volunteers working alongside police and emergency services to search dense, grassy bushland.

Five days after she went missing, her remains were found 5 kilometres from the town camp in the dry Todd River bed. Her death led to vigils across Australia, with thousands of mourners gathering in pink, her favourite colour, to pay tribute. Jefferson Lewis, 47, has been charged with her murder and two other offences that cannot be published for legal reasons.

Her grandfather, Warlpiri elder Robin Japanangka Granites, thanked Alice Springs residents for supporting the family during the search and in the months since. He said the family had been in cultural grieving, known as sorry business, and used the Warlpiri word jintangka, meaning “all in one” or coming together.

Mr Granites invited people to join the family for “our last farewell for our little granddaughter”. The ABC understands another memorial is being planned for the Friday before the funeral, with timing and location details still to come.