LUCKNOW, India, April 4 (Reuters) - An Indian ice-cream seller was beaten to death by a mob which accused him of raping a girl just yards away from a "house of horrors" where the remains of over 20 people were found last year.

The middle-aged man was lynched by residents on Tuesday after they accused him of enticing a neighbour's six-year-old daughter into a shed and raping her in Noida, a town on the outskirts of New Delhi.

The screams of the child drew the attention of her parents and others in the neighbourhood who caught and beat the man. He died in hospital of his injuries, according to police.

The alleged rape occurred just yards away from a house where police found the human remains of around 20 people, mostly children, stuffed in drains in a case in December that horrified the nation.

While the owner of the house and his domestic servant have been arrested and the servant has been charged with one murder, police and local officials have been heavily criticised for their handling of the case.

A federal government investigation accused them of ignoring reports of missing children for more than two years because they were from poor families. Six police officers were sacked and three more suspended for dereliction of duty.

Sabharwal said police had not arrested anyone for the lynching, adding that no one had been accused so far.

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