A six-year-old Chinese boy was abducted, drugged and left in a field down the road from his house with his eyes removed, authorities said.
He survived the weekend ordeal, but will be blind for the rest of his life, doctors said.
The boy had been playing in his yard on Saturday, when his parents noticed he was missing and called police, according to Agence France Presse. He was found laying in a nearby field with a bloody face.
The boy’s father said he first thought his son had just fallen and hurt himself.
“He had blood all over his face. His eyelids were turned inside out. And inside, his eyeballs were not there,” he told state-run Shanxi Television. “We didn’t notice his eyes were gone when we discovered him. We thought he fell down from high.”
Police launched a massive search Wednesday for a woman accused of the crime, the Associated Press reported. Authorities have offered a 100,000 yuan ($16,000) reward for the woman’s capture.
State media initially speculated the crime was committed by illegal organ traders who wanted the boy’s corneas, but police said Wednesday the eyes were found nearby with the corneas intact, AFP reported.
The gruesome incident nevertheless has put a spotlight China’s illegal organ trafficking industry. Only 10,000 of the 30,000 who are placed the nation’s donor lists each year actually receive the necessary organs.
The country only recently started a formal and professional organ donation program, but it’s slow-moving in comparison to the trafficking trade.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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