Man arrested after partner fatally stabbed in Lajamanu Man arrested after partner fatally stabbed in Lajamanu

A woman who was fatally stabbed in Lajamanu is the seventh person in the Top End to be killed in an alleged domestic violence-related incident since June.

The fatal stabbing of a Lajamanu woman marks the seventh alleged domestic violence-related homicide in the Northern Territory since the start of June.

NT Police Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst said the 42 year old was allegedly attacked by her partner and taken to the local clinic on Monday.

Mr Wurst said the clinic contacted police just after 6pm but the woman was declared dead a short time later.

He said the woman’s death was being treated with suspicion and investigated as a domestic violence homicide.

The woman’s 46-year-old male partner – who she had been in a relationship with since 2003 – was arrested in relation to the incident.

He said the woman’s lengthy relationship would form part of the police investigation as well as a report for the coroner.

Mr Wurst said the man had not yet been charged.

Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

It comes after two 36-year-old women, a 43-year-old woman, 49-year-old man, 22-year-old woman, and 37-year-old sistergirl were allegedly killed in the past five months, sparking similar investigations.

Women aged 49 and 61 also remain in critical conditions following alleged domestic violence attacks since June 1.

Each case occurred in the Top End.

“The Northern Territory cannot accept one death, let alone seven matters being investigated in this manner,” he said.

“Not only is Northern Territory Police investigating those seven matters, but we have two other matters that have occurred in that same time frame where both the victims of serious assaults remain in the ICU at Royal Darwin Hospital undergoing intensive treatment.

“That is effectively nine matters where death has occurred or possibly could occur since June 1.”

Mr Wurst said the victims of all nine incidents were Indigenous.

He said NT Police had not seen such a high volume of domestic violence-related deaths since the 2000s.

Mr Wurst said police attend about 60-80 domestic violence-related incidents each day.

“The tragedy is mounting,” he said.

“We wonder why we have young people on our streets who are committing crime and terrorising the community at times – part of that has to be linked back to domestic violence.

“We all need to do better. Northern Territory Police need to do better. The community needs to do better.”

Women’s Safety Services of Central Australia Larissa Ellis said women living in remote communities such as Lajamanu were often “the forgotten part of law and order” despite a recent spotlight on community safety in the NT.

“They deserve access to services and we have to acknowledge that women in remote services remote communities in the Northern Territory do not receive anywhere near the levels of care and support services they require,” Ms Ellis said.

“We have lost another woman to something that is preventable.

“We need all levels of government to be serious about their response to gendered violence.”

Ms Ellis acknowledged the CLP had committed to funding the domestic violence sector with an additional $180m over the next five years.

The sum was established as the baseline funding needed to address the crisis by the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Interagency Coordination and Reform Office, but Ms Ellis said it was unclear how the new NT government planned to spend the money.

Domestic Violence Prevention Minister Robyn Cahill declined to comment on how the funding would be allocated or if it would be in line with the expert report.

But Ms Cahill claimed community safety was the CLP’s “number one priority”.

“We can’t solve this issue alone,” she said.

“The CLP Government is working to negotiate the NT’s fair share of national cabinet’s $4.7 billion package announced last month, given our significant over representation in domestic violence statistics.”