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A seven-year-old girl has been raped and left at the side of the road in India.

The 'heinous' crime has sparked widespread rioting and a fierce manhunt for the culprit.

Local reports say protesters have torched hundreds of vehicles outside the hospital where the girl is in a stable condition.

India Today reports the seven-year-old girl said she was abducted and raped in Jaipur by a man riding a motorbike.

The girl's family found her on a roadside near her house.

Police in Jaipur say they are hunting an unidentified suspect.

(Image: LightRocket via Getty Images)

Authorities are reportedly asking locals to avoid spreading rumours as they work to trace him.

India has grappled with a series of high profile rape cases prompting intense public anger.

But fear of crime has led to mob violence against innocent people in a growing phenomenon around the vast country.

People targeted by viral fake child abduction and organ-harvesting claims spread on WhatsApp have been fallen victim to a series of separate violent lynchings in recent years.

Jaipur's Commissioner of Police Anand Shrivastava appealed to the public for calm on an appearance on India Today TV this week following the latest reported rape.

"We hope to crack the case soon," he is quoted as saying.

(Image: Getty Images) (Image: NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, police have stepped up patrols in the area in an effort to maintain order.

Local politicians have offered financial compensation to the victim's family while authorities investigate the acse.

State Transport Minister Pratap Singh Khachariawas visited the hospital where the girl is being treated on Tuesday, local time, to check on her heath.

He told local media: "This is a heinous crime. The culprit should be hanged. The police are making all efforts to nab the accused."