The police are investigating a report that a woman suffered a black eye when she was struck in the face after her friend’s 11-year-old daughter passed a comment against supporters of a rival political party.

The incident allegedly took place when Carmen Micallef, 35, stopped at Porky’s restaurant in Ħamrun on Sunday evening to pick up a pizza after attending the PN mass meeting in Sliema.

She claimed a man got angry when the girl said: “Labourites, yuck,” on seeing him walk past with a group of other men carrying Labour Party flags.

One of them reprimanded Ms Micallef for teaching the children the wrong values. She said her response was to say that the girl was young and should not be taken too seriously.

Ms Micallef alleged that one of the men spat in her face and insulted her. She admitted to insulting him in return and then got out of her car to pick up the pizza.

However, she said despite her efforts to ignore them one of the men snatched the €5 note she was holding and ripped it, while another man hit her in the face with a plastic bottle.

She went to the Floriana health centre and was referred to Mater Dei Hospital. She also made a complaint at the Ħamrun police station. A witness confirmed there was a “commotion”, adding there was also “some form of provocation from the woman’s end”.

A doctor has told the woman she has internal bruising behind her eye which could lead to complications. Police confirmed they received the report and that the woman was suffering from a facial injury.