GEORGETOWN, Guyana —  Authorities say a Guyanese attorney and former politician is in the hospital with disfiguring burns after an unknown attacker doused her face with acid.

Police said Thursday that a lone assailant threw sulfuric acid at Gomattie Singh while she sat in her idling car at a Georgetown gas station.

Bar association chief Kashir Khan called the attack "truly horrendous" and said Singh may lose both eyes.

The 53-year-old Singh made an unsuccessful bid for a Parliament seat in 2006. But police said they doubt the motive was political.

Police did not immediately make any arrest. Investigators were studying surveillance footage of the station.