An aspiring model and her cousin were celebrating her 21st birthday when they had acid thrown their faces.

Resham Khan was out driving with 37-year-old Jameel Muhktar, when they suffered an unprovoked attack at traffic lights in Beckton, East London.

Both fear they are now scarred for life.

“The pain was excruciating,” Ms Khan wrote on Twitter. “My cousin struggled to get us away. I saw my clothes burn away in front of me."

She added: “He put his foot down as we were coming onto a dual carriage way but the pain took over and we crashed. We stripped off in the middle of the road, running around screaming and begging for water. We did this for 45 minutes. No ambulance came.”

The pair were driven to hospital by a passer-by and were transferred to a specialist burns unit.

Ms Khan, a Business Management student, had just spent nine months studying in Cyprus and was preparing to enter the workplace. She had not seen her cousin in two years.

Resham Khan suffered burns to her face and body (GoFundMe)

Ms Khan said her old self was “gone forever”.

A fundraising page set up by fellow students to support Ms Khan said “she feels as though her identity has been stolen from her”.

It added: “The scars Resham and Jameel will carry will last a life time.”

Ms Khan suffered damage to her left eye and was burned across her face and body, needing a skin graft, according to the fundraiser.

Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back Show all 12 1 /12 Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 1.jpg Seventeen year old Neela is one of more than 2,700 victims of acid attacks in Bangladesh over the past 10 years. 'My husband was angry...because he claimed a dowry but my family couldn't provide one', she says. 'His plan was to sell me in Saudi Arabia - when I refused he threw acid on me and he fled.' Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 2.jpg Forced into marriage at 12 years old, Neela was just 14 when her husband attacked her. Today, she keeps a photo of herself before the acid attack on her dressing table. Despite major surgery to reconstruct her face, Neela’s left ear remains completely destroyed. Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 3.jpg Neela’s husband is now in jail, the result of a year’s campaigning by local charities including ActionAid. But few perpetrators are punished. Of the 2,742 reported acid attack cases in the last 10 years, fewer than 450 have resulted in a conviction. Eyewitnesses remain too scared to testify and because of a lack of evidence the courts reject many cases. Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 4.jpg Nurun Nahar works in women's rights at ActionAid Bangladesh. She is also an acid survivor, attacked when she was 15 because she rejected a local schoolboy’s advances. With help from ActionAid, she founded the Acid Survivors Network (ASN). Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 5.jpg The Acid Survivors' Network deals directly with around 45% of all the country's acid attack survivors, supporting victims and offering legal support. Where necessary, ASN will appoint lawyers who will work to stop a case being dismissed. ActionAid is also working to tighten the law to make it much harder for perpetrators to escape punishment. Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 3.jpg Neela's husband is now in jail, the result of a year's campaigning by local charities including ActionAid. But few perpetrators are punished. Of the 2,742 reported acid attack cases in the last 10 years, fewer than 450 have resulted in a conviction. Eyewitnesses remain too scared to testify and because of a lack of evidence the courts reject many cases. Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 7.jpg ASN has also been working with acid control committees to monitor the use and sale of acid. Bangladesh is one of the world's major exporters of textiles and even in remote regions the sulphuric acid used to produce colourful textile dyes is easy to get hold of. Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 8.jpg Victims also suffer from psychological problems. So patients who are admitted to Dhaka Medical College, the only burns unit in the country, are offered long-term psychosocial support. A woman's face is seen as sacred. To permanently scar it brings dishonour to the family and functions as a public mark of shame. Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 9.jpg Salina was also an acid attack victim. Acid attacks are a form of violent assault, often linked to 'honour' in parts of Asia. Poor women are usually the victims of these domestic attacks perpetrated as revenge for refusal of marriage, sexual advances, dowry payment or land disputes. Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 10.jpg ASN member Swapna Sen and Neela in their home town of Sirajganj. Neela is one of 260 members ASN has helped. 'When ASN first came to visit me...they also came to visit my parents and gave them support. I didn’t receive much help form the police and prosecutor, only the NGOs,' says Neela. Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 11.jpg A vital part of ASN's work is helping the women earn their own living - in places like beauty parlours. 'Earlier, the survivors wouldn't leave their homes. Now they are coming out. Through motivation workshops we have achieved this and they can speak for themselves,' says Nahar. Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid Photo essay: Acid attack survivors fight back 12.jpg 'Since being part of the network I have made friends, so I feel like I have many people beside me - this is the way I got my strength and mental peace,' says Neela. She is now at college and works part time as a district convenor for ASN. Nicolas Axelrod/ActionAid

Mr Muhktar was reportedly placed in an induced coma and suffered burns across his head, face and body, damage to his eye and also needed a skin graft.

A Met Police spokesman said: "Both victims have suffered burn injuries described as life-changing. It is believed the victims were inside a parked car when a man approached and threw a corrosive substance through the open window."