The National Office Against Pornography and Illegal Publications has launched an investigation into a livestreamed video of a man who allegedly sexually assaulted a junior high schoolgirl.

The video, which was widely circulated on the internet on Sunday, showed a naked man suspected of sexually assaulting a girl who kept crying while two other girls stood beside her. The man said in the video that the girl cost him 9,000 yuan ($1,200) and that she is from Wenshan Zhuang and Miao autonomous prefecture, Yunnan province.

The Wenshan public security bureau said it organized an investigation in collaboration with public security departments immediately after receiving reports of the video from netizens on Sunday night.

The video posted on the internet was recorded on a mobile phone app called Taozi, which means "peach". According to a report from news website ThePaper.cn, the video, which was 31 minutes long, was released on May 9. The report also said there are a large number of indecent videos on the app.

On its official Sina Weibo account, the anti-pornography office said the man will face severe punishment in accordance with the law if the alleged assault is confirmed.

Earlier this year, the office launched a special campaign to crack down on online posts containing harmful and vulgar information, including pornography. According to a previous statement by the office, it has eliminated more than 12,000 illegal websites and more than 8.4 million pieces of indecent online information in the first six months of this year.