A man accused of raping and murdering a 4-year-old girl has been publicly lynched.

The alleged paedophile was arrested in Reyes, northern Bolivia after police found a missing girl's body earlier this week.

Furious locals refused to wait for his trial and took justice into their own hands.

Furious: Harrowing video footage shows the gang forcing the bars of the jail open

A mob stormed the police station and dragged the man into the street where locals hanged him on a tree.

Harrowing video footage shows the gang forcing the bars of the jail open before grabbing the helpless man.

The mob started beating him and dragged him through the streets. The man was hanged just minutes later.

Police officers were outnumbered and failed to stop the public lynching.

Shocking: The man accused of raping and murdering a 4-year-old girl was dragged through the streets

Violent: Locals then grabbed the helpless man and pulled him through the streets to hang him

The 4-year-old victim whose death incensed the community was not a local but was visiting the area with her parents for her grandmother's funeral.

Ivan Zambrana, the department director of the Special Force for Crime Fighting, told local media: 'The dead bodies, both the girl's and the lynching victim's, have been moved to Palos Blancos [near Bolivian capital La Paz], we are investigating the case.'

Nobody has been arrested for the lynching, but the police are currently questioning locals and using social media videos of the incident in tackling the case.

Gruesome: Bystanders took videos on their phones as the man was left dead in the street