A woman has died after suspected domestic violence, with a senior minister describing her death as a tragedy.
A 57-year-old man who is in a relationship with the 43-year-old woman has been arrested and taken into custody by police.
Neighbours raised the alarm on Tuesday evening after hearing shouting and fighting at a house in Darwin.
“We called the police because we heard her screaming but they didn’t come fast enough,” a neighbour told AAP on Wednesday.
‘If they think we’ve stolen something, the police will be there like lightning, but if we say we’re going to die, they won’t show up.’
Neighbors said they first called police around 8 p.m.
Several people confirmed that the woman was trying to ‘move’.
Northern Territory police said they received a report just after midnight that a 43-year-old woman had died and were quickly on the scene.
A woman has been murdered in a suspected case of domestic violence, with a man in custody (pictured is the Darwin home where the woman is believed to have died)
They could not confirm whether a weapon was involved or how the woman died.
They also could not confirm whether they had received any previous calls, saying they were still in “preliminary investigation.”
A neighbor said that around 10 p.m. he looked out the window and saw a woman sitting on the sidewalk crying.
“An ambulance came, but it didn’t have sirens, so we knew they were all too late,” he said.
Emergency services were unable to resuscitate the woman and later that evening detectives from the serious crimes department were alerted.
Police could not confirm whether those involved were participating in the Family Safety Framework, a prevention program that provides support to families at risk of death from domestic violence.
Domestic and Family Violence Minister Kate Worden said it was a tragedy that another woman had died in the Northern Territory.
“The police will carry out their procedure, but when will this stop?” said Ms Worden.
The suspected domestic violence followed the publication of a report into the murders of four Aboriginal women, which found systematic failures by police and government agencies to respond to calls for help.
The Northern Territory has the deadliest rates of domestic violence in Australia, yet receives only four per cent of federal funding for services.
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