The body of a three-year-old boy was found in an abandoned shack near the Swartkops River in Perseverance in the Nelson Mandela Metro on Sunday, Eastern Cape police reported.

Captain Gavin Baker said it appeared the child was molested and then killed by a relative, as he had sustained injuries to his face.

Baker said the male relative asked the mother if he could take the child home with him.

When the man did not return the child to the Joe Slovo informal settlement a few kilometres from his home. a search was launched and the child's body was found.

No arrests had yet been made. - Sapa