An eight-month-old baby in China was stabbed 90 times by his mother after he bit her while she was breastfeeding him, reports said.

The baby, Xiao Bao, was found by his uncle in a pool of blood, and was immediately rushed to the hospital where the tot received close to 100 stitches for his wounds, the Daily Mail reported.

Bao lives with his mother and two uncles, who make a living out of recycling waste, in Xuzhou, in eastern China's Jiangsu Province.

Reportedly, neighbors requested government officials to take the baby away following the incident, fearing the mother suffers from mental illness. However, Chinese authorities stated there was no confirmation that the mother is mentally unstable and refused to move the baby from the house saying that he has guardians in the form of two uncles, according to the Daily Mail.

In China, people suffering from mental illness find it difficult to access medical treatment, the Daily Mail report pointed out. An analysis published in The Lancet medical journal in 2009 showed that 91 percent of the 173 million Chinese adults with mental issues did not receive professional help.

What triggered the attack on the infant is not known, but a report on Catholic Online's website indicates that the mother might be suffering from postpartum depression, which led to the attack.

“The birth of a baby can trigger a jumble of powerful emotions, from excitement and joy to fear and anxiety. But it can also result in something you might not expect - depression," the Mayo Clinic says on its website concerning the medical condition.

China Medicine