The charred body of the child was found in the Dera Baba Jaani village, one of 200 villages that fall within the jurisdiction of the Saddar police station in Kamoke.

According to the family, the boy’s maternal cousin came to the house at 8am to take the boy along. When they returned for several hours, they went in search of the boy.

During the search, they stumbled on his badly burnt body in the field.

The family as well as the police also believe that the body was raped before being burnt to death.

Police have since taken the maternal cousin - identified as 20-year-old Faiz Rasool - into custody.

The boy’s body has been sent for a post-mortem while the suspect is being questioned.