Chemical attack victim posted she was 'so happy' with Abdul Ezedi before assault
The victim in the Clapham chemical attack wrote of "being so happy" on social media before being left with life-changing injuries, it is claimed.
The 31-year-old is said to have broken off a relationship with suspect Abdul Ezedi before the alkaline substance was thrown over her and her two children on January 31 in Lessar Avenue in the southwest London suburb.
It's understood she could lose her sight but her two kids, aged three and eight, have now been released from hospital. A total of 12 people were hospitalised following the incident, including police officers.
It is unclear how long the couple were together but in a post in December 2021 the woman said: "Thank You God. For all the joys in my life. For being so happy."
A friend who set up a GoFundMe page wrote: "Our very dear friend, a generous, sweet, loving mother and her two small daughters were recently the victims of a brutal chemical attack in Clapham. This attack has changed the lives of this wonderful little family forever.
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"At what is clearly a shocking and terrible time, we simply hope that their burden of trauma is not added to by financial worries. We desperately want them to have a safe and secure future with the things they need to rebuild their lives and recover from this most horrifying attack. Anything you could spare to help would be most gratefully received.
The latest CCTV shows Abdul Ezedi travelling along Upper Thames Street at 9.54pm on January 31 (Met Police)
Police have been searching for the suspect for over a week (Metropolitan Police/AFP via Gett)"Finally, a note of thanks to the neighbours on Lessar Avenue. We are overwhelmed by your bravery and kindness and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for everything you did to save our friend and her daughters. You are angels in our eyes."
It comes after the Met Police said today they believe Ezedi, from the Newcastle area, may have "gone into" the River Thames soon after the attack. The force it is its main working hypothesis right now, but no body had been found. Commander Jon Savell said the body of Ezedi may "never" surface if he has gone into the Thames, as the river is "very fast flowing, very wide and full of lots of snags" at this time of year.
Previous CCTV stills showed him with a severe burn wound on his face (Metropolitan Police / SWNS)He said at a briefing: "It is quite likely that if he has gone in the water, he won't appear for maybe up to a month and it's not beyond possibility that he may never actually surface. We have spent the last 24 hours meticulously following the CCTV, and it's our main working hypothesis that he's now gone into the water.
"We have looked at all of the available cameras and angles, and with the assistance of Transport for London and CCTV from buses that were travelling over the bridge at the relevant time and there is no sighting of him coming off the bridge."
A manhunt to find him has been ongoing for more than a week, with officers raiding two addresses linked to Ezedi in Newcastle in the early hours of Thursday. Earlier this week police said the last confirmed sighting was just before 11.30pm on January 31, a few hours after the attack, as he crossed over Chelsea Bridge and entered Battersea Park in central London, then crossed back over the same bridge minutes later.
Friends have set up a GoFundMe for the mum and two daughters who were attacked (PA)Metropolitan Police chief Mark Rowley called the incident "ghastly" but added that attacks involving chemicals were "exceedingly rare" in the British capital. A £20,000 reward remains on offer for information leading to Ezedi's arrest. Ezedi is an Afghan refugee who was granted asylum even after he was convicted of a sex offence in Britain in 2018.
Ezedi's asylum application was initially rejected, but he was later given permission to remain in the UK after claiming that he had converted to Christianity and would be persecuted if he returned to Afghanistan.
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