© ReutersSexual violence against women and girls has triggered many protests in Indian cities
The child was taken from outside her home in the state of Madhya Pradesh, before being sexually assaulted, the BBC reports.
She also suffered injuries to her eyes, which police believe was an attempt by the attacker to stop her identifying him, and is in a critical condition in hospital in Jabalpur city.
Police in India said the girl was playing with friends in a village in Damoah district last night before she was abducted, in an incident the state's Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan called 'shameful'.
She was found unconscious in an abandoned building this morning, with her hands tied.
'We found that her eyes were damaged by the accused, who also inflicted injuries on her face,' district superintendent Hemant Chauhan told the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency. 'Doctors are operating on her eyes.'
Police said suspects have been questioned as the force offers a 10,000 rupees (£100) reward for information leading to an arrest.
Supt Chauhan said some suspects had been questioned and police hoped to make an arrest soon.
It is the latest incident of sexual violence in India, which has been highlighted even more so in recent years since a young woman was gang-raped and murdered on a bus in Delhi.
Despite huge protests and changes being made to the country's rape laws, sexual crimes continue to be seen across the nation.
Every fourth rape victim in India is a child, according to crime figures reported by the BBC, with the perpetrators being known to the victims in a large number of rape cases.
This person . . . worse than a cockroach, for at least that ain't their fault.