A two-year-old girl was strangled to death, her eyes gouged out and hands crushed after her father failed to repay a loan of 5,000 rupees (72 U.S. dollars) in Aligarh, north India's Uttar Pradesh state. An investigation to determine if the girl was sexually abused is underway.

Stray dogs appearing to drag a mutilated human body from a garbage dump alerted the police of the brutal crime. A police investigation revealed that the little girl, identified as Twinkle Sharma, had been missing since May 31.

The two men arrested for the murder, named Zahid and Aslam, lived just 500 meters from girl's house. Police say the barbaric crime was an act of "revenge."

The incident has shaken the entire country, with people from all walks of life expressing their outrage on social media. Over 17,000 posts with a hashtag using the girl's name have been posted in last 24 hours, demanding the harshest possible punishment for the perpetrators.

Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan's tweet. /Twitter image Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan's tweet. /Twitter image

Bollywood actor Anupam Kher's tweet. /Twitter image Bollywood actor Anupam Kher's tweet. /Twitter image

Bollywood actor Ayushman Khurrana's tweet. /Twitter image Bollywood actor Ayushman Khurrana's tweet. /Twitter image

Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh's tweet. /Twitter image Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh's tweet. /Twitter image

Senior Indian journalist Sonia Singh's tweet. /Twitter image Senior Indian journalist Sonia Singh's tweet. /Twitter image

Child abuse in India

In January 2018, an eight-year-old girl was raped and murdered in Jammu. Over 100 court hearings have taken place since then, and the trial is yet to be concluded. In 2013, following the outrage over the rape and murder of a medical student aboard a moving bus in the capital Delhi, the government announced that the death penalty would be applicable to those convicted of rape resulting in death. However, the three convicts in the case are still waiting to hear on their review petition against the death sentence.

Bollywood celebrities holding placards against rape cases in India, 2018. /Twitter image. Bollywood celebrities holding placards against rape cases in India, 2018. /Twitter image.

Human Rights Watch estimates more than 7,200 minors – 1.6 in 100,000 minors – are raped each year in India. In 2016, India recorded 106 rapes a day and four out every ten victims were minors. The National Crime Records Bureau's (NCRB) "Crime in India 2016" report reveals that a total of 38,947 cases of child rape were registered in the country while only one out of four cases resulted in conviction.

(Cover: Students in India protest against child abuse. /AP Photo)