Bhopal/IBNS: An 11-year-old girl was brutally gang-raped and left covered in blood, with bite marks all over her body, in a jungle near a famous temple in Madhya Pradesh on Friday morning, police said.

The condition of the girl is said to be serious.

Two people have been arrested and one of the accused works at a cow shelter run by the temple management committee.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has directed the police to take strict action against the accused and ensure the survivor gets the best possible medical treatment.

"I have received information about the rape in Maihar. My heart is full of pain, I am distressed. The police have arrested the criminals. Instructions have been given to the administration to make arrangements for proper treatment of the girl.  No criminal will be spared, strictest action will be taken," Chouhan tweeted.

According to police, the girl went missing last evening and when she wasn't home till late in the night, her family informed the police and began a search.

She was found in a jungle about a kilometre from her home in Arkandi township under Maihar police station in Satna district this morning.

The jungle is close to the temple of Goddess Sharda in Maihar town, which attracts pilgrims from across the country.

The family informed the police and took the girl to the Maihar Civil Hospital. After the news of the incident spread in the village, an angry crowd gathered outside the hospital.

Police and district officials rushed to the hospital and prevented the situation from escalating.

State Congress President Kamal Nath has hit out at the government and said it has failed to provide security to women in the state.

"The incident of rape with a little girl in Maihar is highly condemnable. Reports are emerging of inhuman behaviour with the girl, as was done in the Nirbhaya gangrape case. Such incidents, which are happening regularly to girls in the state, prove that the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government has completely failed in providing security to our sisters and daughters," Nath tweeted.