Aunt suspected of gouging out six-year-old’s eyes

Chinese authorities suspect the woman who gouged out a six-year-old boy’s eyes was his aunt who later took her own life, state media said, adding a surprising twist to a gruesome case with conflicting details.

Police in the city of Linfen in northern Shanxi province have identified the boy’s aunt Zhang Huiying as a suspect because the boy’s blood was found on her clothes, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Six days after the boy was attacked, Zhang took her own life.

Initial reports said the boy, Guo Bin, was lured by an unidentified woman with a strange accent into a field on Aug 24 where she used an unspecified tool to gouge out his eyes.