Photo: Screenshot of thepaper.cn

Police in a Central China province have arrested six people, including two employees of state-owned institutes for raping a girl under the age of 12 who allegedly was cheated to work as a prostitute in a local karaoke bar that has since been shut down. 

Police in Qidong, Hunan, confirmed the arrest with local media on Tuesday. They said that the six suspects include a male employee of a local state-owned bank and another male employee of a local human resource and employment service center.

A woman surnamed Chen was also arrested on prostitution charges, and has been released on bail as she is pregnant. 

The arrests come after the girl's father, surnamed Zhou, wrote on social media that his daughter had been raped by several men in October. At the time the local procuratorate hesitated to file charges against the suspects as they questioned the daughter's age. 

According to his daughter's birth certificate, which Zhou posted online, the girl was born in December 2007. According to Chinese law, people who have sex with someone under the age of 12 can be charged with statutory rape. 

Zhou reported his daughter missing on October 3 and police found the girl three days later in a local hotel with two men in the same room. 

The girl told police that she had been working in a local karaoke bar since running away from home and had sex with several men. 

After verifying the girl's age, the local procuratorate approved the arrests of the suspect, Red Star News reported, citing the girl's grandfather.

The grandfather said that the girl has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. She is one of China's so-called leftover children and was being raised by her grandparents after her parents moved to work in another part of China.