A mother and her six-year-old daughter were gang-raped by a group of men who offered them a lift home in northern India

Police said the men had promised the woman and her daughter they would drive them safely back from Piran Kaliyar, a holy site for Muslims and Hindus, on the banks of the Ganga Canal, Roorkee, Uttarakhand province. 

The driver, who has been identified only as Sonu, already had passengers in the car when he agreed to drive the woman and her child, Police superintendent Pramendra Doval said.

Local media reported the mother said she had no idea how many men were in the vehicle.

The men allegedly attacked and raped the woman and her daughter in the moving car before they dumped the victims near a canal.

In spite of the ordeal, the mother managed to reach a police station, where she reported the crime.

The pair were taken to Roorkee Civil Hospital, where medics confirmed the woman and the little girl had been sexually assaulted.

Police confirmed investigations are ongoing.