Around 50 lawyers beat up a group of men accused of repeatedly raping a 12-year-old hearing-impaired girl over a seven-month period in India.

At least 22 men including security guards, lift operators and plumbers working at the apartment block in Chennai where the girl lived allegedly attacked her.

The sedated the girl with drugs and then took her to vacant apartments in the block to assault her, police said.

They had threatened her with knives, and told her they would release videos of the assault if she told anyone, local media reported.

Around 50 lawyers beat up a group of men accused of repeatedly raping a 12-year-old girl over a seven-month period in India

Police arrested the men on Monday on charges of rape, attempted murder and criminal intimidation.

Television footage showed a group of around 50 lawyers beating up the suspects on the staircase of the city high court as they were brought in to the Mahila Court.

One cowered in a corner, trying to protect himself from the blows, while passers-by took pictures on their mobile phones.

Lawyers have refused to represent the men in court.

The president of the Madras High Court Advocated Association said it had decided not to represent any of the men.

Lawyers are seen crowding around some of the men - who include security guards, lift operators and plumbers - who allegedly attacked her

One cowered in a corner, trying to protect himself from the blows, while passers-by took pictures on their mobile phones

'Even if legal aid is provided, we will oppose it,' he said, according to the Times of India.

The girl, who lives with her parents in a mostly unoccupied 300-apartment complex, was allegedly sedated and first attacked by a 66-year-old lift operator, according to NDTV.

He allegedly invited other men to assault her and they recorded each other raping her.

Police said she was also blackmailed with the videos of the attacks.

The accused rapists allegedly took the girl to various places in the complex to assault her – including the basement, terrace, gym and public toilets.

Television footage showed a group of around 50 lawyers beating up the suspects on the staircase of the city high court as they were brought in to the Mahila Court

But on Saturday, the victim told her elder sister who was visiting from Delhi, prompting the family to file a complaint, the Times of India said.

The case is the latest of a series of child rapes that have been reported across India this year.

In January, an eight-year-old girl was kidnapped, drugged and gang-raped for days before being murdered.

After an outcry sparked by a number of high-profile cases, India introduced the death penalty for the rape girls under 12.

On average, over a hundred cases of women being raped were reported every day in India in 2016, according to the most recent figures made available by the national crime records bureau.

Around six of those were girls below the age of 12.