A half-naked rag picker in Foshan City has been detained after gnawing on a woman's face on the street and then biting the arm of a police officer who arrived to arrest him, local media reported yesterday.

The victim of the “face eater” in Foshan. [Photo: Guangdong TV news clip]

The victim, surnamed Pan, told Guangdong TV news that the man, naked to the waist, accosted her on the street on Saturday afternoon, pushed her into a corner and started to gnaw on her face.

"I shouted to him asking what is he doing, but he kept seizing my head and suddenly bit me on the face," Pan said.

Pan got seven stitches on her face. She said she didn't know the man, identified by police as a rag picker from Zhanjiang City in Guangdong.

Chen Dongsheng, a police officer in Foshan, told reporters that police saw the woman, with her face bleeding, running from a half-naked man.

"The man seemed to be around 40, some 1.7 meters tall, but he looked very strong," said Chen, "He was pursuing the woman while wielding a long shovel."

He had been seen attacking passers-by with the shovel.

"The man beat a police officer when he tried to catch him and tried to jump on a passing truck to escape," said officer Zhou Houjin, "We caught him after he failed to jump on the truck." Zhou said the man appeared to be in a frenzy as he bit him on the arm. Police said the man was sent to a hospital to see if he is mentally ill.

In June, a drunk bus driver was detained for gnawing on a female driver's face after blocking her car in Wenzhou City in Zhejiang Province. Doctors said he likely had complicated intoxication syndrome.