Victoria's Secret worker scarred for life when niqab-wearing attacker threw acid in her face as she walked home from shop

• Naomi Oni, 20, was almost blinded and will need years of skin grafts
• She was heading back to her flat from the bus stop when she was injured
• Had been talking to her boyfriend on the phone after a late shift
• Says the apparently random attack has 'destroyed' her life
• The shop assistant no longer wants to go out in public
• She was inspired to share her story by acid-attack victim Katie Piper

A Victoria's Secret shop assistant was scarred for life when a mysterious figure wearing a niqab threw acid in her face as she walked home from work.

Naomi Oni, 20, was left with severe burns on her head, neck, arms, legs and body after she was attacked in Dagenham, east London.

She 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.

The shop assistant - who is sole carer for her disabled mother Marian Yalekhue, 52 - was making the five-minute journey back to their flat from the bus stop when she heard someone behind her.

Hidden: Police have not managed to identify who did attacked Ms Oni because they were wearing a niqab (file picture)

She had just finished a late shift at the Westfield Stratford store and was on the phone to her boyfriend Ato Owede, 23, at 12.40am.

'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.