Footballer posts first photo of face after alleged acid attack by woman accused of assaulting new mother and abducting her baby

Top French footballer Yoane Wissa has shown his scars but looked well in his first photo since he was treated for a horrifying acid attack to his face at his home, with the arrested female suspect also accused of abducting a baby.

Updating fans for the first time since the harrowing incident at his home in north-west France last week, Wissa offered a reassuring message as he relaxed with a friend on the coast following his discharge from hospital, where he was treated after having a corrosive substance thrown in his face.

The striker for Ligue 1 side Lorient wore sunglasses and had scarring visible on the right side of his face in the shot, which he accompanied with the words: "God is great.

"Thank you all for your messages of support – it goes straight to my heart. I'm better: we're working for a good recovery."

French newspaper L'Equipe reported that DR Congo international Vissa had not lost his sight and should return to training "quickly".

A 32-year-old woman from Vannes, in the Brittany region, is said by Ouest France to have been indicted and detained for "attempted murder, kidnapping and attempted kidnapping of a person under the age of 15, home invasion and violence with a weapon".

The charges include another troubling alleged crime in which she posed as a social worker via a telephone line that was traced back to her by investigators, using it to arrange a meeting with a new mother, who she assaulted before stealing her baby.

Police were subsequently alerted by residents who took in a woman with head wounds and burns to their side and back.

"[The victim] confirmed that a woman posing as a social worker had contacted her by telephone and made an appointment for her the same day," cops said in a statement.

"Instead, the [woman], of whom she gave a fairly precise description, struck her in the head and projected on her a liquid which caused the burns observed.

"She was transfered to the burns department of the Bordeaux hospital. The investigators very quickly identified the telephone line used to fix the appointment, went to the home of the holder on July 3 in the morning and discovered a couple – a boy as well as the little girl kidnapped the day before.

"The woman... was taken into police custody. She admitted to being the author of the abduction of the baby and the assault of her mother after posing as a social worker.

"She had hit the mother of the child on the head before spraying her with flammable liquid and setting it on fire.

"She explained that she had suffered a miscarriage which she then concealed from those around her. Cornered by her lies and various stratagems, she had found no other solution than to abduct a newborn child who could physically correspond to the one expected."

Authorities said they had cross-checked accounts and found that the information tallied with the suspected attacker on Wissa, adding that the footballer also had a new baby.

"Police custody, lifted for psychiatric medical grounds, was reinstated on July 8," they said. "The accused woman admitted to being the author of the assault on Mr Wissa but denied having attempted to remove the child from him."

The woman, described as 32 and "small" with "long black hair", was imprisoned following a court hearing that was held behind closed doors in order to safeguard sensitive privacy elements.