More than 30 calls were made to police over the welfare of Kumanjayi Little Baby's mother - as cops claim they feared for her life

Published: 00:11, 17 June 2026 | Updated: 00:11, 17 June 2026 Police believed the mother of Kumanjayi Little Baby was at serious risk of being killed or badly injured in the months before the five-year-old was allegedly abducted and murdered.  Jacinta White last saw her little girl on April 25 as she tucked the five-year-old into bed for the night at Old Timers Camp on the outskirts of Alice Springs. After a five-day search of the surrounding scrubland, her body was discovered on April 30. A 47-year-old man has been charged with her murder. In the months before her death, NT Police were called more than 30 times over reports her father, Raphael Granites, assaulted or was about to assault her mother, according to The Australian. The matter was discussed at a crisis meeting in Alice Springs earlier this year, where police said Ms White would almost certainly be seriously injured if circumstances did not change. At the time, Granites, 29, was free on a suspended sentence for assaulting Ms White. He was later arrested for allegedly beating her again at the town camp where Kumanjayi Little Baby disappeared. He had been in custody for three days when the little girl vanished. Fronting court in Alice Springs, Granites tried to summon a guard and leave his cell as a prosecutor read out details of the alleged assault. Kumanjayi Little Baby vanished from the Old Timers Camp in Alice Springs in April Police feared Kumanjayi Little Baby's mother, Jacinta White, would be killed or seriously injured in the months before her daughter's death She reportedly began sorry business for her daughter while appearing to have two black eyes  The prosecutor said Granites allegedly struck Ms White with a closed fist while 'standing over' her, using enough force to cause swelling and break the skin.  'This comes in a history of an ongoing pattern of domestic violence of the same kind,' they told the court. Child protection authorities were criticised in the weeks after Kumanjayi Little Baby's death after it was revealed she had recently been the subject of six child protection reports.  The reports alleged Kumanjayi Little Baby was living in a dangerous environment, had been neglected and was exposed to domestic violence. NT Senator Jacinta Price has previously said the failure to act on multiple warnings should 'horrify every single one of us in this chamber and across the world'.  'For too long in this country, there has been silence around what is happening in too many town camps and remote communities - a silence driven by fear, a fear of causing offence, a fear of being labelled racist, fear of speaking honestly about dysfunction, violence, alcohol abuse, neglect and conditions,' she said. 'Vulnerable children are growing up in that silence and it is killing our babies. And when I say our babies, our people, I mean Australians.' Under NT law, any person who becomes aware that a child has been exposed to domestic violence must report it.  NT Senator Jacinta Price accused child protection authorities of failing Kumanjayi Little Baby Three child protection workers have been stood down in relation to Kumanjayi Little Baby's case.  NT Child Protection Minister Robyn Cahill contacted the Department of Children and Families to determine whether there were areas of concern about the girl.  'I was basically told that things were not a situation of concern,' Ms Cahill said last month. The minister said she then requested a full brief, which indicated a need to review how processes had been handled.  'As a result of the initial investigation that had occurred, there's been three staff that have been stood down from the roles that they were occupying,' she said. 'That wasn't my decision, that was a decision of the department.' Ms Cahill said she could not talk about specifics of how the girl came to the department's attention.  She said a broader independent investigation into the department’s structure was needed, with a possible restructure in the future.  Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.