Emotional: Naomi Oni, 20, pictured with This Morning host Phillip Schofield earlier this month
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Police are investigating a theory that the Victoria's Secret worker who suffered horrific acid burns to her face may have inflicted the injuries on herself.
Naomi Oni, 20, spent a month in a burns unit and has been left partially blinded from what she claimed was an unprovoked assault by a woman wearing an Islamic niqab.
The part-time model said she feared an unknown enemy was 'out to kill her' and wanted to die when she first saw the way her face had been disfigured.
Shocking: Naomi Oni was returning from a shift at Victoria's Secret in Stratford, when the attack happened
However, police are now investigating whether the attack may have been self-inflicted after they seized her computer and found she had searched websites about acid attacks before she suffered her injuries.
She is believed to have researched Katie Piper, a model who became famous for her bravery after she had sulphuric acid thrown in her face by an ex-boyfriend in 2008.
Miss Oni said she is 'really upset' about the allegation. Her family have accused the police of not doing enough to catch the true perpetrator and wasting time by instead focusing on a 'crazy' line of enquiry.
Miss Oni was severely scarred on December 30 following a shift working at lingerie store Victoria's Secret at the Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford, East London.
Campaigner: Miss Oni is understood to have researched high profile acid attack victim Katie Piper before she was attacked herself
She said she was getting off a bus close to her home in
Dagenham, Essex, at around 12.40am when she noticed a woman in traditional Muslim clothing, which covered all but her eyes, 'coldly' staring at her from behind.
She then felt something being thrown at her, she added. 'Before I could feel it burning, I just knew it was acid. I thought, OK, someone is out to kill me.'
Miss Oni suffered horrific burns to her face, leg, arm and head. She lost her hair and eyelashes in the incident and has undergone several operations since.
Doctors had initially feared that she would be permanently blinded but following intensive treatment at a specialist burns unit, she recovered sight in her left eye and partial sight in her right eye.
Miss Oni's story was first reported earlier this month after she went public in a bid to help police find her attacker.
She made an emotional appearance on ITV's This Morning, for a reported fee of £3,000.
'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,' she said. 'I have no clue why someone would do this to me.'
Her case attracted much sympathy and top American cosmetic surgeon Cap Lesesne offered to operate on her for free.
The incident has caused considerable concern near her home and she and her mother have moved out temporarily for fear of further attacks.
Far right groups, such as the English Defence League, have used the attack to criticise Muslims.
By the time she appeared on television, police had reportedly sought to retrieve Miss Oni's laptop computer, which was handed over by her disabled mother, Marian Yalekhue.
It is believed she had searched websites relating to acid attacks and the story of Miss Piper, 29, who campaigns for victims of facial disfigurement. The pair were due to meet after Miss Oni's public appeal.
Horrific injuries: Naomi Oni suffered burns to her face, head, arm and leg in an apparent attack in December
Officers have since questioned relatives about whether Miss Oni could have harmed herself.
Miss Oni said: 'The police haven't been able to find anyone. They even asked my aunt if I had done it to myself, which really upset me. Why would anyone do this to themselves?'
Friend Sheila Maclean said it was 'innocuous' that Miss Oni may have watched a Channel 4 documentary about Miss Piper on her computer, adding that this would simply have been due to an interest in make-up. Miss Oni's boyfriend Ato Owede, 23, said the police are 'concentrating on the wrong things' and 'are just coming to a silly conclusion'.
Police have yet to establish what kind of chemical was used in the attack. No arrests have been made. A spokesman for the Metropolitan police said officers 'continue to follow a number of lines of enquiry'
Culled from The Daily Mail UK.
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