PHOTOS: Former Miss Italy Finalist, And Acid Attack Victim Returns To Work; Other Model Victims

From being a finalist in a 2007 beauty queen pageant to having a disfigured and burnt face in 2017, Gessica Notaro, still just 28 years of age, has definitely not had a smooth ride.

She was a Miss Italy finalist about a decade back but is now left with horrific scars and at risk of losing her sight after acid was thrown on her in January, allegedly by her jilted boyfriend.

She posted a picture of herself on Facebook this week, after the attack, with sea lions at the aquarium where she works in east Italy. Soon after, social media users tweeted that photo again.

Notaro has had several operations since the attack and her injured eye remains bandaged but it hasn't deterred her from fighting back against bullying. She returned to work as a sea lion trainer and wanted to send out a message to other girls to not stop fighting, BBC reported.

Read: Photos Of Bushra Waiz, 18-Year-Old Pakistani Actress Shazia Aziz, Victim Of Acid Attack For Marriage Refusal

Notaro and her former boyfriend, Jorge Edson Tavares had met while working at the 'Delfinario' attraction, an aquarium which features dolphin shows. They started dating but broke up last year. She publicly accused Tavares of launching the attack but he denied any involvement. Tavares is currently in custody and is expected to appear before a court next month, reports said.

Notaro's case is just one among several instances where a woman's face was disfigured with acid, but she rose again against all the odds to face reality. We take a look at some of the models who have been targets of acid attacks.

1. Katie Piper (2012)

Former British model Katie Piper was attacked with acid in March 2008 in North London, which was planned by her ex-boyfriend Danny Lynch. Piper and Lynch had met online and after a few weeks of being together, Lynch allegedly raped her and beat her in a hotel room, something which she never told the police or the hospital at the time.

After a few days, Lynch asked Piper to visit an Internet cafe so that she could read an email he had sent her, but he had arranged for an accomplice who would throw sulphuric acid on Piper after identifying her.

The assault resulted in surgeons having to remove all the skin from Piper's face before rebuilding it with a skin substitute and following it up later with skin grafts.

2. Reshma Qureshi (2014)

Reshma Qureshi, from India, was just 17 when she was attacked with acid by her brother-in-law who mistook Qureshi for his wife. Since Qureshi and her elder sister were wearing a burqa, the attacker could not identify who was whom. The incident took place at a railway station in her hometown, Mau Aima in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

After the attack, when Qureshi saw her face in the mirror for the first time, she went into depression and isolated herself from the rest of the world and even thought of ending her life, according to Hindustan Times. Things started changing however, when she met Ria Sharma, founder of an NGO "Make Love Not Scars." Sharma helped Qureshi come out of her depression and started a crowd-funding campaign to help her meet hospital and legal expenses.

Now, Qureshi is a model and walked the ramp at the New York Fashion Week last year.

Read: Acid Assault On 2 British Women In Africa

3. Shonali Khatun (2003)

Bangladesh hosted a fashion show March 8 to mark International Women's Day by featuring 15 models who were also acid attack survivors and leading the parade was 14-year-old Shonali Khatun. She was just 17 days old when her face was burnt with acid over a family property dispute.

She spent almost three years in hospital undergoing eight operations, Reuters reported.