The girl's 72-year-old grandmother, who refused to be identified, said the girl has been beaten often by her father since she was 5. He would abuse her if he believed "she was not disciplined on occasions such as not responding when he called her", the grandmother said.

She said her son punished her granddaughter in many different ways, including jabbing her arms and fingers with a needle, hurting her lips with fishing line, starvation and asking her to kneel on broken glass.

If anyone tried to stop the abuse, Yang would attack him or her too, the grandmother added.

Gao Dongmei, director of the township's women's federation, said she made a home visit to Yang's wife, Xiong Yuhui, a primary school graduate, on Thursday.

"She said she could do nothing to stop her husband from beating their daughter and she had no idea where she could ask for help," Gao said.

Xiong could not be reached for comment on Monday.

Luo Qian, deputy chief of the township, said local officials have donated more than 20,000 yuan ($3,200) for the girl's medical treatment.

"It will cost a lot of money to heal her scalp burns so we also opened an account for public donations," he said.

A woman visited the girl at the hospital and shared photos of her with friends. The photos and the girl's story quickly spread on Sina Weibo, a popular micro-blogging platform, on Saturday.

Zhao Kai in Guiyang contributed to this story.