Police are mystified as to how a woman who was critically burned in an apparent chemical attack survived for days on the streets of western Sydney with little more than basic first aid.
A resident on Ferraro Crescent at West Hoxton heard cries from nearby bushland on Friday night and called triple zero.
When police arrived they found Monika "Nikki" Chetty, who has reportedly been sleeping rough in the area for months, with extensive burns to her face and body.
The 39-year-old told police she was attacked about a week ago in a Liverpool park but she did not seek help at hospital.
"In my 41 years in the police, this is most baffling - I cannot fathom the circumstances leading up to this," Green Valley Police Detective Superintendent James Johnson told reporters on Saturday.
"She is covered in black marks. It's full-thickness burns.
"She would have been in absolute agony, in my opinion, and to survive this long is amazing."
Ferraro Crescent resident Gavin O'Brien reportedly found Ms Chetty washing her wounds around the side of his house on Boxing Day.
"I couldn't tell it was a woman, the person was that disfigured," he told Network Ten.
"Had bandages on their head, didn't look too well. I asked if they were OK, they didn't want to talk, they were quite distressed."
It has been reported the woman is a mother of three who occasionally slept in bushland near where she was found by emergency services.
"She's been hanging up bedsheets and clothes along the park fence," neighbour Frank Ravese told the Seven Network.
Ms Chetty is in the Concord hospital burns unit in critical condition and police have asked for anyone with information to come forward.
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