ZHENGZHOU - An official in Central China's Henan province has been detained after allegedly raping over 10 underage girls, local authorities said Sunday.

Li Xingong, former deputy director of the general office of the Yongcheng city committee of the Communist Party of China, confessed to having raped more than 10 girls during police interrogation, the city's publicity department said in a statement.

The local authorities has ordered swift and severe punishment on the suspect in accordance with relevant laws.

The case, which has triggered wide public outrage on Sina Weibo, a popular Twitter-like micro blog service in China, is still under investigation.

The authorities did not reveal the range of the victims' ages, but pledged to release further details timely along with the investigation progress.