Boy Whose Eyes Gouged Out Asks Why It's Always Dark

BEIJING Aug. 29, 2013— -- A reward has been offered for help in finding the woman who gouged out a boy's eyes as reports emerge that the blinded boy keeps asking his mother why "the sky is always dark."

The boy, Guo Bin, was playing at a neighbor's home in the Chinese city of Linfen on Aug. 24 when he was attacked by the mystery woman.

He has told his mother that he was drugged and taken out into a field where his eyes were brutally torn out.

"She called out my name and said I'll stop gouging your eyes if you stop crying," Guo said. Guo told his parents that that was the last thing he remembered before passing out.

Guo Bin's parents told Xinhua News Agency that he was very excited about beginning the first grade next week. He had his new school bag, pencils and notebooks ready and so looked forward to meeting his new classmates.

The boy's parents are reportedly farmers. "We had no disputes with anybody," Guo's mother tearfully told Xinhua. "Who could be so cruel as to do such a thing to a little boy?"

"Our son asks us why the sky is always dark and why the dawn still hasn't come every time he wakes up," she said.

"It is so difficult to explain to him," she said. "It is the most heartbreaking thing."

Police in Linfen published a notice on their official website and offered a 10,000RMB ($16,000) reward for capturing the boy's assailant.

According to Xinhua, neighbors saw Guo Bin playing in the neighborhood at around 6 p.m., but his parents couldn't find him at dinner time. They found him in the field at about 10 p.m. He had passed out, his face was swollen and covered with blood.

Guo Bin started to wake up on the way to the hospital. He told his family that a woman with an out-of-town accent grabbed him, dragged him off and gouged out his eyes.

The Associated Press reports that a police officer, who only gave his surname Liu, said that the boy's eyes were found intact at the scene. But Guo Bin's parents told local media that when police found the eyes, the corneas were missing. State media have raised the possibility that this was a case of organ trafficking.

Guo Bin is recovering in the Shanxi provincial Eye Hospital in the province's capital, Taiyuan. Doctors at the hospital have told local media that Guo's condition is stable after the surgery, but he is permanently blind. His optic nerves were irreparably damaged, so that even new eyes and corneas would not help him get his sight back.