A video showing a young girl walking around seeking help after allegedly being raped has sparked anger in India.
Many people expressed outrage after CCTV footage showed a man appearing to wave the girl away when she approaches him.
But police told local media that the girl, who walked around Ujjain city in Madhya Pradesh state for more than two hours, was helped by some people. A senior police official said a medical examination showed the girl was raped.
“Five people who came in contact with the girl are being questioned,” Ujjain police superintendent Sachin Sharma told ANI news agency on Thursday, adding that the girl was “incoherent and could not initially give any details about her whereabouts”.
Police have not confirmed the girl's age yet.
A short CCTV video which surfaced online this week sparked condemnation from politicians and on social media. It shows the girl, who appears to be bleeding, walking on a road on Monday. At one point, she approaches a man who seems to wave his hand at her, before walking away again.
Police say they are reviewing other CCTV footage from the area to trace the route the girl walked before she got help.
Mr Sharma said the girl had been reported missing from Satna city – more than 700km (435 miles) from where she was found – on Sunday. She was helped by Rahul Sharma, whom media reports have described as a Hindu priest. He said the girl was bleeding when he found her.
“She could not speak. Her eyes were swollen,” Rahul Sharma told news channel NDTV.
“I then enquired what had happened but she spoke in a language that I did not understand; I also gave her a pen and paper but she could not write anything either,” he told The Hindu newspaper. He said he gave her some clothes and called the police, who took her to the hospital.
On Wednesday night, police said in a statement that the girl's injuries had been treated and that she underwent surgery as well, without giving more details. The BBC has tried to contact police in Ujjain for comment. Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Misra said on Wednesday that the girl's condition was stable.
Opposition leaders in the state have condemned the incident and criticised the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the safety of women. State BJP chief VD Sharma said police would take “strict action” and “the criminals would not be able to get away”.
Priyank Kanoongo, chairperson of the National Commission for Protection Of Child Rights, told reporters that he had contacted local police and administrative officials in Madhya Pradesh to find out more about the incident.
Activist Yogita Bhayana, who has worked with several rape survivors, told the BBC that she was trying to trace the girl's family and get in touch with them to offer support.
— CutC by bbc.com
