A four-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a 13-year-old boy living adjacent to her house at a village near here in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday, police said.

The teenager, who has been detained, lured the girl with a toffee and took her to his home, where he raped her, said Deori police station inspector Rameshwar Thakur.

The victim and the accused are neighbours and girl's mother was not at home when the incident took place, he said.

"We have detained the boy and booked him for rape under relevant sections of the IPC and POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act), Thakur said.

The girl's mother came to know about the shocking incident when she returned at around noon and did not find her daughter at home, the police officer said.

She then spotted her daughter in the neighbour's house, he said.

"The woman came to us at around 2 pm with her daughter who had suffered injuries in the sexual assault. We rushed her to hospital for treatment and medical examination. Thereafter, we booked the accused," Thakur said.