A seven-year-old girl has been raped in a school toilet in India, the latest rape case amid mounting outrage over sexual crimes against women in the country.

According to police, the girl was raped during recess inside the school toilet which was situated next to the headmistress’ office, sparking mass protests.

Thousands of people surrounded the Deepvihar High School in the city of Vasco da Gama on Monday night demanding the arrest of the headmistress and the rapist, believed to be in his early 20s.

The headmistress was initially detained and later arrested for alleged negligence of duty while authorities are still looking for the perpetrator, a police official told AFP.

This comes after six men were arrested for allegedly raping a bus passenger in Punjab just a month following the brutal gang rape of a medical student on a moving bus in New Delhi. That woman died 13 days later in a Singapore hospital, igniting protests demanding stricter laws against crimes against women.