Left - Before: This undated photograph shows Kamilat Mehdi on her graduation in Addis Ababa. Mehdi was walking home after dark with her two sisters when a man stepped out of the shadows and threw sulphuric acid in her face. The acid hit the 21-year-old's eyes, nose, mouth, forehead and chest, splashing onto the faces and backs of her sisters beside her, burning flesh wherever it touched.   Righ t- After: Kamilat Mehdi, assaulted with sulphuric acid, sits next to her hospital bed in Addis Ababa March 20.

Twenty-one-year-old Kamilat Mehdi, represents the latest brutal act of violence against women.

She was walking home with her sisters one night when a man, who reportedly has been stalking her for some time, approached her and threw sulphuric acid on her.

Mehdi, who wanted to do a degree and become an air hostess, was burnt in the eyes, nose, mouth, forehead and chest. The acid also splashed on her sisters, burning their faces and backs.

Mehdi is now burnt beyond recognition, sending shock waves through the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, and among Ethiopians abroad.

Two men have appeared in court in Addis Ababa in connection with the attack. Her brother Ismael says his sister knew her attacker. "He bothered her for a long time - at least four years," he says.

Didn't tell the family

"He gave her a hard time but she didn't tell the family for fear that something would happen to them. He was always saying he would use a gun on them."

Attacks like this are rare in Ethiopia, but women's groups in Addis Ababa say that stalking and sexual harassment are common problems.

The Ending Violence Against Women report published by the United Nations at the end of last year, said almost 60 per cent of Ethiopian women were subjected to sexual violence at some point in their lives.

Mahdere Paulos from the Ethiopian Women Lawyers' Association says they would like to see a specific provision in Ethiopian law that tackles stalking and harassment, so that there is better protection for young girls like Kamilat in the future.

In rural areas, the traditional practice of abducting young girls and forcibly marrying them remains common - in one region it accounts for 92 per cent of all marriages, according to the most recent figures from 2003.

Kamilat and one of her sisters have been flown to Paris for medical treatment, which is being financed by businessman Sheikh Mohammed Al Amoudi.

Information from BBC website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/ 2/hi/africa/6498641.stm