Blinded boy: 'Why is it dark?'

CHINA - More details, including photographs and a video, have been revealed about the case of a boy whose eyes were gouged out by a woman in China.

The six-year-old boy, surnamed Guo, was found covered in blood in the northern province of Shanxi after he went missing while playing outside, Chinese media reported previously.

His eyes, gouged out by an attacker, were recovered nearby, a police officer in Fenxi county, who declined to be named, told AFP.

The boy was being treated at an eye hospital and was not yet aware that he has been left blind for life, the Beijing Youth Daily said.

"He asks why the sky is always dark... And why the dawn still hasn't come," it quoted an uncle of the boy as saying.

"We could only tell him that his eyes had some injury and have to be bandaged. (We tell him that) they will be fine after the bandage is removed.

Reward for information

Police have offered a 100,000 yuan (S$21,000) reward for information leading to the arrest of the sole suspect, whom they said was a woman.

Reports said she drugged the boy on Saturday before gouging out his eyeballs.

No-one had been detained, Chinese media said.

A video posted online on Tuesday showed the boy - who had a cleft palate - writhing in agony on a hospital bed.

Pictures posted online showed him still heavily bandaged, but apparently in less acute pain.

The brutal attack has shocked Internet users in China, who offered sympathy for the boy and demanded retribution against his attacker on the country's hugely popular microblogs.

Get The New Paper for more stories.