The body of a six-year-old girl has been found inside a box hidden under her neighbour’s bed, after he helped the family search for their missing child.

After little Harshitha went missing last Thursday in Bengaluru, Karnataka, southern India, her parents quickly launched a search party.

Neighbour Anil, 30, offered to search for the little girl but four days later her decomposed body was found squeezed inside a box, hidden under a bed in his house.

Police suspect she was raped before she was murdered.

Harshitha was the only child of Shiv Kumar, 32, and his wife Saraswathi Kumar, 25.

Shiv Kumar, a daily labourer, said: “She was playing outside the house at around 6pm when she went missing.

“My wife and I were inside the house.

“Then it started raining and the power went off so we went outside to get her but we couldn’t find her. No one had seen her.

“After that we started a search party to look for my daughter.”

Shiv said his neighbor Anil, who is married with two children, aged six and three-years-old, had been friendly since he moved into the rented property eight years ago.

He added that Anil’s wife and children had been away visiting family when Harshitha went missing.

He said Anil acted shocked and worried about Harshitha’s safety before offering to help search for her.

“He pretended like he knew nothing about my daughter,” Shiv added. “He even came out and helped us search for her.”

After 24 hours of searching, Shiv officially reported his daughter missing at the Giri Nagar Police Station.

On Monday local residents reported a foul smell coming from Anil’s house and police broke in to find Harshitha’s decomposed body under the bed.

Raghavendra Swamy, the investigating officer, at Giri Nagar Police Station, said: “Anil informed his neighbours last weekend that he was joining his wife and children in his family’s village in Kalaburagi.

“While he was away he called one neighbour and asked him to switch off his electricity mains.

“Two hours later they started to smell a foul smell coming from his house and reported it to us.

“It’s suspected the minor was raped and then murdered.

“Anil’s mobile has been switched off since our find but our team is searching for him.”

He added that once the post-mortem report has been released the cause of death will be confirmed.

Shiv’s wife, Saraswathi, is currently in hospital suffering with shock.

A Hindu funeral for Harshitha is planned to take place on Monday.