A MAN who allegedly raped a five-year-old girl was lynched in an Indian town already reeling from a case in which dozens of poor children were sexually assaulted and murdered.

Some 1000 residents in the upscale satellite town Noida outside New Delhi set upon the ice-cream vendor after he was found with a girl who went missing Tuesday, the Indian Express newspaper said.

An angry mob led by the girl's father beat the vendor for over 15 minutes before police rescued him, a Hindustan Times report said. He later died in hospital.

Tempers among residents of Nithari, a slum area where many poor migrants of the suburb live, have been running high since bags of human remains and clothing were found in a drain in December.

The man was working in the home of an affluent businessman who was initially also suspected in the case, with the house located close to the area where many of the missing children lived.

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