Destructor called after returning from function - c++

Question

I've got some project for my University and I need to perform converting some data from file to matrix representation.
The main problem is that after returning form "returnNeighbours(int node)" destructor is called on neighbours object(as I concluded from running gdb).
I know that destructor is always called when local variable, in function, is initialized, but neihbours is a class member. I won't post everything, because it's not necessary I think. I've got some structures listed below.
representation.cpp
NodeContainer::NodeContainer(){ size = 0; array = nullptr; }
NodeContainer::~NodeContainer(){ size = 0; delete[] array; }
void NodeContainer::allocateMemoryAndSetSize(int n){ size = n; array = new int[size]; }
void MatrixRep::convertDataToMatrixRep(int** array)
{
for(int i = 0 ; i != size; i++)
for(int j = 0; j != size; j++)
matrix[i][j] = array[i][j];
}
NodeContainer MatrixRep::returnNeighbours(int node)
{
deleteNeighboursIfAny();
if(!checkIfNotBeyondMatrix(node))
return neighbours;
neighbours.allocateMemoryAndSetSize(countNeighbours(node));
for(int i = 0, j = 0; i < size; i++)
if(matrix[node-1][i] != 0)
{
neighbours.array[j] = matrix[node-1][i];
j++;
}
return neighbours;
}
void MatrixRep::deleteNeighboursIfAny(){ if(neighbours.array) neighbours.~NodeContainer(); }
bool MatrixRep::checkIfNotBeyondMatrix(int node)
{
if(node == 0 || node > size)
{
std::cerr<<"There is no such a node!\n";
return false;
}
else
return true;
}
int MatrixRep::countNeighbours(int node)
{
int count_non_zero = 0;
for(int i = 0; i != size; i++)
if(matrix[node-1][i] != 0)
count_non_zero++;
return count_non_zero;
}
representation.h
struct NodeContainer
{
int size;
int* array;
NodeContainer();
~NodeContainer();
void allocateMemoryAndSetSize(int);
};
class MatrixRep
{
int size;
NodeContainer neighbours;
int** matrix;
public:
MatrixRep(int);
~MatrixRep();
void convertDataToMatrixRep(int**);
NodeContainer returnNeighbours(int);
void deleteNeighboursIfAny();
bool checkIfNotBeyondMatrix(int);
int countNeighbours(int);
void setupMatrix();
void deleteMatrix();
};

Answer 1

If you would like to return a copy of NodeContainer, you must implement a copy constructor and assignment operator for it. If you're using a C++11 conformant compiler it will also be good to also implement a move constructor and move assignment operator as well.
On the other hand, if you would like to not create a copy, you must either return a pointer or a reference to the member. You could also make the member a std::shared_ptr, which you may return in this case.
However, in your current implementation you're actually returning a shallow copy of NodeContainer. Once your copy goes out of scope its destructor is called, which deallocates its memory, which in this case is the original memory of your member, effectively making your member invalid. The implementation is not good as it is. So, depending on your goal, either implement the first advised solution, or the second.