ATHENS – A 36-year-old woman accused of tossing acid in the face of a woman in Athens she thought was a romantic rival for her boyfriend will face attempted murder charges, a judicial council has ruled.

She wasn't identified under Greek privacy laws which generally forbid identifications unless there is a conviction although that's frequently ignored in cases involving politicians or public figures, but not always the case.

The council accepted the recommendation of a prosecutor who said there was sufficient evidence to suggest the unnamed defendant who splashed sulfuric acid on Ioanna Paliospyrou, also 36, wanted to kill her, the victim named.

The defendant had denied trying to kill Paliospyrou, only wanting to disfigure her for live and apologized for doing it, the damage irrecoverable and scarring the victim forever.

After staying silent some 11 months, the defendant said she was spurred by jealousy. “I never intended to kill her, but to hurt and injure her,” she earlier told one of the judicial officials, said the state-run Athens-Macedonian News Agency.

“I only accept the charge of causing grievous bodily harm,” the suspect said of tossing the acid at Paliospyrou as she left her office on May 20, 2020 in the neighborhood of Kallithea as the COVID-19 pandemic was raging.

She also reportedly claimed not to know the damage that sulfuric acid can cause and expressed regret for her actions, apologizing at the same time admitting she wanted to hurt the victim.

She reportedly refused, however, to say where she got the acid and was uncooperative. She was traced through her phone card allegedly used that day and on footage from security cameras in the area, said Kathimerini.