The expression an eye for an eye has become a cliché – in this case, one can call it a nose for a nose.

A man was having fun with his two female companions at a tavern in Thohoyandou. A jealous man arrived with a number of accomplices, disturbing the peace that prevailed there, and the fun the friends were having came to an abrupt end. The new arrival provoked the man who was having a good time with his two female friends by claiming that the latter was stealing his lovers.

The accused did not want to argue with his accuser, but the provocateur started assaulting him in the presence of the two women.

The fighting got worse; the victim could not bear the heat and decided to run away, but not without having sustained an injury. It is alleged that his nose had been bitten off in the fracas.

One of the assailants followed him to the nearby complex. That is where the real drama happened...

Many shoppers abandoned their shopping and gathered at the scene. The accused regained his strength and retaliated. He pinned his assailant to the ground and let fly. The accuser was severely assaulted and, as if that was not enough, the accused knelt down and bit off the nose of his attacker.

The police arrived at the scene and took one of the men away and the other was left sprawling on the tarmac. Emergency personnel attended to him and took him away.

One man saw it all happening. Calvin Nemutavhani, who sells airtime next to the place where the incident happened, said he saw the two men running after each other from the side of the taxi rank. “I could not figure out what was actually happening as I was busy serving my customers,” he said.

He added it was not long before he heard noises coming from the direction in which the men had run. The noise became louder and louder and that was when he decided to go and see what was going on. “These two guys were arguing. It seemed the one was already bleeding and seemed to have been severely bitten. I tried to talk sense to them by reprimanding them and telling them to stop the mess they were causing,” he said.

He said the bleeding man indicated that he wanted to cut the other’s nose as a way of revenge.

“I told him to stop it as he would be heading straight to jail if he ever did that, but he said he was ready to stand for his actions,” said Nemutavhani.

He said the man surprised all present when he knelt down as if he wanted to pray for the other man, but instead bit off a big piece of the man’s nose.

“This is the worst experience I have ever witnessed, having to look at a man being punished in the manner the man was doing. I will always remember this,” he said.

He said the man on the ground was helpless and was bleeding by then and the other man did as he wanted.

A bystander said he had never seen anything like it in his whole life. “Imagine having come from your home with all your body parts and having to go back to face your family with parts of your body missing. It is going to be worse if the men are married, fighting for magosha,” he said.

One of the injured men is rumoured to be a businessperson holding government tenders.

Another spectator said it was a disgrace to find grown-up people acting so irresponsibly.

“How do you face your wife and children with your nose bitten off, fighting about women of the streets,” he said.

Limpopo police spokesperson in Vhembe, Capt Mashudu Malelo said police had no record of the incident.

“If anyone feels offended, he is free to come and open a case and we will take it from there,” said Malelo.