A 20-year-old man had his tongue bitten off in a horrific fight in the problematic suburb of Cova da Moura, Lisbon, on Sunday.
According to reports, he tried in vain to tell police who had attacked him, and had to resort to gestures to try and explain what had happened.
The youngster is now in Lisbon’s Santa Maria hospital “due to the gravity of his situation”.
For now there are no further details on how he is expected to recover, and whether he will regain his ability to formulate words.
The attacker, “an old acquaintance”, has gone on the run, while the case has been referred to the Public Ministry.
According to Correio da Manhã, the attack began as a body-to-body fight as a result of “an exchange of insults”.
Cova da Moura is a notorious neighbourhood which the BBC featured in an exposé last year, entitled “They hate black people” which focussed on the problems between locals and police.
The area has seen a number of shootings and stand-offs over the years, the most recent of which saw one person killed and another seriously injured, writes Correio da Manhã.
