Xiaoling follows the hearing via video link. [Photo/Modern Express]

An 11-year-old girl finally awoke from a living nightmare when her parents' custody was withdrawn and granted to a civil affairs agency.

The case of Xiaoling (an alias) marks the first nationwide in which a civil affairs body applied to deprive parents of their child, news outlet Modern Express reported on Thursday.

Xiaoling was born in Central China's Henan province in 2004. When she was a year old her father left home and took her to Xuzhou, East China's Jiangsu province, after divorcing his mentally retarded and disabled wife.

One day in 2013, Xiaoling was found begging for food on the street by a woman surnamed Zhang and the girl later went to Zhang's home several times seeking help before telling the woman that her father and another man had sexually abused her.

Police investigated and confirmed the offense. The girl's father was sentenced to 11 years for rape and molestation in October last year and the other suspect was also imprisoned for the same offence.

Since the victim's parents had failed to take care of her, the Civil Affairs Bureau of Tongshan, a district of Xuzhou city, applied to assume custody.

The case was heard on Wednesday with the court granting custody to the Bureau, with the girl's interim caretaker Zhang able to adopt her under the supervision of the agency.

The case is the first since new rules protecting children from harm by their guardians took effect on Jan 1.