China police hunt for woman gouging boy's eyes

TAIYUAN - Police in North China's Shanxi province are on a manhunt for a woman who gouged out the eyes of a six-year-old boy.

The Public Security Bureau in Fenxi county posted on Tuesday a public notice offering an award of 100,000 yuan ($16,129) for tips leading to the capture of the criminal.

The boy, surnamed Guo, was lured by an unknown woman on Saturday evening into a field, where she gouged out his eyes.

The boy's family later found him and rushed him to a local hospital. He was transferred to Shanxi Eye Hospital in the provincial capital of Taiyuan on Sunday.

Doctors at the hospital said the boy would be blind for the rest of his life, although the eyes had been recovered.

Police have initially ruled out the possibility of organ trafficking involvement in the case.

The boy said that the woman, before taking him to the field, had asked him if anybody in his home played mahjong, according to his mother Wang Wenli.

"We had no disputes with anybody," said Wang, adding that neither she nor her husband, both peasants, had any idea what had driven the criminal to commit the act.

The provincial health authorities have suggested that the cost of the boy's medical treatment be reduced or exempted.