Violent incident comes days after Nigerian street seller was beaten to death in Italian town.

Police in the Italy's southern Calabria region have launched an investigation after a Nigerian woman was physically assaulted when she asked for the wages she was owed.

The 25-year-old woman, who was employed as a dishwasher at a beach resort in Soverato, filmed the violence and posted the footage on Instagram before reporting the incident to police.

Her post - titled "Beaten just because I asked to be paid" - has been shared widely on social media in Italy.

The woman, named Beauty David, claims she was only paid for the hours stipulated in her contract, when in fact she worked much longer shifts. "He paid me for three hours a day but I was doing 12 hours", she said.

The footage shows onlookers in the background as the woman was slapped, kicked and threatened by a man, allegedly her employer, who then stamped on her phone in an attempt to destroy it.

• Outrage in Italy as Nigerian man beaten to death

The man subsequently went to police to give his version of events, reports Italian news agency ANSA.

The incident comes days after the killing of a Nigerian street seller in the central Marche region caused outrage in Italy as the country enters a parliamentary election campaign in which the right-wing coalition has made immigration a key issue.