Her injuries.

A woman who was beaten up in Paceville early yesterday morning, allegedly by two bouncers, has gone on Facebook seeking help to identify her attackers.

Michelle Sullivan posted a selfie showing bruises all over her face and urging her Facebook friends to help her trace the two “cowards” responsible.

While the hospital did not classify her injuries as grievous, witnesses said the consequences of the assault could have been much worse as it was “brutal” and “merciless”.

Ms Sullivan, 45, from Swieqi, said she, her partner and some friends were sitting outside an establishment in Triq Wilġa at around 2am on Sunday.

A number of Dutch men harassed one of her friends and a bouncer from a nearby establishment intervened. However, when her friend complained about the men’s behaviour, the bouncer got violent, she said.

“Next thing I saw was the bouncer swing and punch her, at which point I tried to stop him, only to end up on the ground. Though I managed to grab both of his legs, I received another volley of kicks in the head, presumably from another bouncer who also tried to – and partially managed – to rip my hair out.”

The fracas lasted for a few minutes until the police arrived.

“The least I can expect now is for the police to file charges against the aggressors,” she said.

Replying to questions from this newspaper, the police yesterday confirmed they were investi­gating the incident but gave no further details.

Three eyewitnesses expressed shock at what they had seen. A woman who happened to be passing by said the bouncers showed “no mercy at all” and described the manner in which they dealt with the situation as “brutal”.

“Unfortunately incidents involving heavy-handed bouncers are not a rarity and my hope is that the authorities crack down on such abusive behaviour,” she said.