Woman killed herself by jumping down a well after attack that left six-year-old permanently blinded, state media reports

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

Police in northern China suspect the woman who gouged out a six-year-old boy's eyes was his aunt who later killed herself by jumping into a well, according to reports.

The official Xinhua news agency cited police in the city of Linfen, Shanxi province, as saying the aunt was identified as a suspect after the boy's blood was found on her clothes.

State media say the boy, named Guo Bin, was lured by a woman into a field on 24 August where she used an unspecified tool to gouge out his eyes.

Six days later Zhang Huiying killed herself, though media reports had cited relatives as saying they did not think she was responsible for the attack.

The Beijing Times quoted the parents of the boy as saying their son was walking along a path when he was grabbed by a woman, who then used an unspecified tool to gouge out his eyes.

No motive has been cited. State media previously had raised the possibility that the boy's corneas were taken for sale because of a donor shortage in China. However police said the boy's eyeballs were found at the scene and the corneas had not been removed.

Authorities in Linfen had offered a reward of 100,000 yuan (£11,000) for the woman's capture.

The attack horrified the Chinese public and added to outrage over violence against children in the wake of a scandal earlier in the year involving a spate of cases of school teachers sexually abusing young girls.

Chinese internet users expressed dismay as they circulated reports of the attack on the boy and links to footage showing him writhing in pain on a hospital trolley with bandages around his head and his parents, both farmers, crying.

Media reports cited police as saying the aunt had argued with the boy's parents over how much money each family should contribute to the care of his grandfather, who was paralysed.