A Nigerian girl, Naomi Oni was scarred for life when a mysterious figure wearing a muslim niqab threw acid in her face as she walked home from work. She has no idea who did this to her and has spent the past month having skin grafts and almost went blind, although she has now recovered her vision in her left eye and has partial sight in her right.
To make matters worse, she is the sole carer for her disabled mother Marian Yalekhue who is 52. She told her story;
‘I’d been working a late shift
and was talking to my boyfriend about what we were going to do for New Year
when I saw this Muslim woman wearing a niqab covering her face,’ she told the
Evening Standard.
‘I thought it was a bit strange
at that time of night, but she didn’t say anything and I kept on walking.
‘Then I felt a splash on my
face. It burned and I screamed out. I started running and screaming, holding my
face, all the way home. I didn’t look back.
‘I got home and I was screaming
and banging on the door. I was hysterical. Luckily my godmother, who is a
pharmacist, was at home with my mum and she helped me and kept dipping my face
in water and trying to calm me down until the police and ambulance got there.
‘I was in shock. Saying:
“Who would do that? Who would do that?” How could anyone do this?’.
She has released the shocking
images of her disfigured face in an appeal for help to catch the attacker whose
identity was concealed behind the Muslim women’s dress which completely covers
the face apart from the eyes.
Ms Oni decided to speak out
after police failed to establish any motive behind the December 30 attack or
identify a suspect.
She said the attack had
‘destroyed’ her life and left her too afraid to venture out or even show her
face in public.
‘I look in the mirror and it
just isn’t me. I’ll never look the same again,’ she said. ‘I’ve always been
outgoing and confident in my job and in my personal life, used to getting
attention for the way I dress or my hair, but now I don’t want anyone looking
at me.
‘I don’t want people to see me
in public. I don’t want to get the Tube or the bus. If I have to go to the
hospital I take a taxi.
‘I don’t know if I’ll ever be
able to go back to my job. I was planning to go to college in September to
study media and fashion, but I don’t even know if I’ll be able to do that.’
The store assistant has been
told she faces months if not years of skin grafts and further plastic surgery
and even then is likely to be left with severe facial scarring.
She and her mother say they are
too afraid to go back to their council flat in Dagenham. They are currently
sleeping on a friend’s sofa-bed after turning down the offer to be rehoused in
Tottenham on safety grounds.
Ms Oni said she had been
inspired by the story of Katie Piper, the model who launched a charity and
spoke out publicly after falling victim to an acid attack orchestrated by her
boyfriend, but that she would never feel safe with her attacker still at large.
‘Even with the support of my
family and friends and boyfriend I feel very alone,’ she said. ‘Nothing is
going to be same anymore.Her story
