A child was found with her legs and hands bound and having been viciously stabbed in the eyes after being raped.

The seven-year-old girl was whimpering for her mum when she was found in an abandoned house on the outskirts of the village in Damoh, India, after the attack.

Surgeons battled to save her eyes as the case caused widespread outrage across the country.

It is the third rape in the state of Madhya Pradesh since the area's coronavirus lockdown started.

Police arrested a 20-year-old suspect, named Sachin Sen, after announcing a reward of 10,000 Indian Rupees - about £105 - for information about the rapist.

The government has imposed a lockdown across the country (
Image:
AFP via Getty Images)

Inspector General Sagar Range Anil Sharma said: "The accused lured away the girl on Wednesday evening and took her to the abandoned house, where he tied her up and committed the crime."

Dr Rajesh Tiwari, superintendent of Jabalpur Medical College said: "The girl has swelling in her eyes.

"Specialists have examined her and it does not seem she has any grave injuries in her eyes."

According to the Asia Times there is a rape in India every 15 minutes, government data has revealed.

According to the data, 32,500 cases of rape were registered with the police in 2017 – almost 90 per day.

The National Crime Records Bureau on October 21, 2019, released its report for the year 2017, which stated that 359,849 cases of crime against women were reported in the country.