A nine-year-old girl was in a critical condition in hospital after being raped by three men in Pakistan’s Punjab province, police said.

The girl was taken to a hospital in Bahawalpur after being raped on Wednesday. Doctors treating her said she was in a critical condition because of loss of blood and internal injuries.

A medico-legal report confirmed the rape. Police registered a case against seven people for kidnap and rape.

Five of them were named by the girl’s mother, The Express Tribune reported.

The girl had gone missing from her home on Wednesday morning and was later found in a nearly unconscious state in the same area.

Local police station chief Irshad Joyia said a team had been formed to arrest the suspects. Police had been informed that the suspects had fled to another village.

According to the FIR, the student of class two was abducted from in front of her house in Manzoorabad in Rahim Yar Khan by three women and a man.

She was taken to a ‘dera’, where she was raped by three men. One of the rapists was identified in the FIR. The girl was beaten up before she was left in front of her home.

Her mother told police that she had found the girl near their home. She was bleeding and close to fainting.

The mother said when she was taking her daughter to the police station, one of the kidnappers stopped her and threatened to kill her if she informed police.

She said she went back home but later informed police about the incident.

The incident comes days after the brutal gang-rape of a 23-yeard-old student in the Indian capital that led to a renewed focus on violence against women across the region.

The Indian rape victim died recently in Singapore, where she was taken for treatment.

Pakistani women’s and rights groups have organised protests over the incident in India and called for better laws on rape and violence against women.

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