A 12-year-old girl living in a prison in Bolivia is pregnant after being raped by her father and other men. The news has sparked outrage over the country's practice of letting children live in jails.

The San Pedro prison in the city of La Paz, where the alleged crime happened, is basically a walled community where inmates can have jobs and buy or rent houses to live with their families. It has over 2,400 prisoners, and around 1,500 children and adolescents forced to live with them.

The girl is one of those who live with her jailed father inside the San Pedro prison. According to prison director Ramiro Llanos, the child said she was repeatedly raped by her father, uncle, and godfather since she was just eight years old.

The child, who is now in the hands of child protection officials, will be receiving psychological counselling.

However, a spokesman for the prisoners denied a crime against the girl took place, claiming that the girl was "fine."

"There is no proof that the girl was raped, mistreated, or touched," he told BBC. "We are waiting for medical tests so that we can deny the allegation."

Children who live in the overcrowded correctional facility with their jailed father share living space with violent criminals, such as drug dealers, murderers, and rapists. They have no alternative but to stay inside the walled society while their families serve their sentences because they have no other relatives who can take them in.

The news has sparked outrage in the country, calling for reform in Bolivia's correctional facilities. The San Pedro already has a shady reputation, with officials turning a blind eye to the primary income generator for inmates, which is manufacturing and selling cocaine.

But the alleged rape of a minor was the "straw that broke the camel's back."

The prison will be closing down come July 18.

"We have had enough of abuses being committed inside the jail," Llanos told BBCC. "We cannot control the police. They have orders to stop drugs and alcohol from entering the prison, but to no avail. So we will close down the prison altogether."

The prison will stop admitting new inmates from July 18, and those who are already inside will be relocated or released in the next few years.