WUHAN - A woman has been detained by police on suspicion of chopping off the ears of a six-year-old boy in Central China's Hubei province.

On January 28, Zhang Qihui, 35, is suspected of taking her nephew into an alley, severing both his ears with a fruit knife and leaving wounds on his chin, after quarrels with her family members over housing construction in Wanghe village of Xiangyang city, according to local police.

The boy was later hurried to Xiangyang Central Hospital, where only one of his ears was successfully reconnected, said Shen Ying, a doctor with the hospital. The boy is now in a stable condition and has been discharged from the hospital, Shen said.

An investigation into the case in currently under way.