SYDNEY, April 18 (Xinhua) -- A body has been found in a burnt-out car in southwest Sydney after a woman was violently kidnapped from her home.

The police were called to reports of a kidnapping from a home in Bankstown, 18 km southwest of central Sydney, at about 10:30 p.m. on Thursday night.

A 15-year-old boy who was in the home at the time told officers that a group of up to five masked men, one of whom was armed with a gun, had forced entry into the property before assaulting an eight-year-old boy with a baseball bat and abducting a 45-year-old woman.

Shortly afterward, emergency services were called to reports of a car fire in the nearby suburb of Beverly Hills. Following an examination of the destroyed vehicle, the police located a body believed to be that of the woman.

The eight-year-old boy was treated at home for serious head injuries before being taken to the hospital. The 15-year-old was also taken to the hospital for assessment.

New South Wales Police Superintendent Rodney Hart told reporters at a press conference on Friday that it was a "horrendous" and "confronting" crime.

He said that the police cannot rule out that the woman was burnt alive.

"The level of violence is unheard of, but I want to reassure the community that we strongly believe that this is a targeted incident and that this is not a random kidnapping," he said.

Crime scenes have been established at the home and the location where the car was found and a strike force has been set up to investigate the incident.

Hart said that the police would undertake a "very large" CCTV search canvassing the area between the two crime scenes and implored anyone with information to come forward. Enditem

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