The stylish woman accused of stabbing an amateur photographer who caught her in his West Village photo shoot was busted this week — and insisted to The Post that she had no choice but to attack him in self-defense.

“The guy was taking photos of me, and I had to defend myself,” Melanie Lyngdoh, 43, told The Post from her apartment building Friday. “I kept covering my face, and he wouldn’t respect that.”

“I did not give consent. He saw I was clearly uncomfortable with the photographs and he came this close,” she added, gesturing about 6 inches away. 

“What was he going to do with the picture that he took of me?” added Lyngdoh, dressed in a floor-length black nightgown as she cracked open her apartment door. “Was he going to create a deepfake about me and put it on porn sites? That threatens me, you know? I’m from India. My character is what I’m most defensive about. So that’s my comment.”

She then threatened to call the police if the reporter returned. 

Lyngdoh was arrested on Thursday and charged with second-degree assault in connection to the unhinged, broad-daylight May 5 attack on the 36-year-old cameraman, police said. 

“I stabbed him with scissors,” the trend-setting assailant – who police say has no prior arrests – allegedly admitted to cops, according to a criminal complaint.

Lyngdoh — seen on video wearing a black dress, sunglasses and heels — allegedly flipped out around 4:20 p.m. when she realized the victim caught her in one of the snaps he was taking for social media at Varick and West Houston Street, cops and sources said. 

She first slugged him on his shoulder — before flashing a pair of scissors and stabbing him in the back, police said.

The scissor-wielding woman then stormed off, heading south on Varick Street and entering the Houston Street subway station, cops said.