A 42-year-old Nigerian woman was arrested in Ivrea, northern Italy, after biting off a neighbour's index finger during a street assault on 21 August, police said.
The suspect stalked the 49-year-old victim to Piazza I Maggio, where she beat her with an umbrella and then severed the finger's phalanx with her teeth, authorities said. The victim used pepper spray in self-defence, which also struck the attacker's seven-year-old son. The victim was taken to Ivrea hospital with an irreversible traumatic amputation and given a 20-day recovery prognosis.
Carabinieri officers arrested the suspect at the scene on charges of grievous bodily harm, aggravated by trivial motives and the presence of a minor, and carrying a weapon. A court later imposed a restraining order barring her from approaching the victim.