(Reuters) - Zimbabwe’s First Lady, Grace Mugabe, has denied
assaulting South African model Gabriella Engels with an electric cable in a
Johannesburg hotel suite last month, saying an “intoxicated and unhinged”
Engels attacked her with a knife.
In a previously unreported Aug. 17 deposition seen by
Reuters, Mugabe countered 20-year-old Engels’ version, portraying herself as
the victim after intervening on behalf of her adult sons Chatunga and Robert
Junior who were “in trouble with a drunken young woman”.
The statement said Grace Mugabe, 52 and a contender to
replace her 93-year-old husband as Zimbabwe’s president, was thinking about
filing attempted murder charges.
According to Engels, an irate Mugabe burst into the room
where she was waiting with two friends to meet Chatunga Mugabe on Aug. 13 and
started laying into her with an electric cable.
Photographs taken by her mother soon after the incident showed
a gash to Engels’ forehead and head. She also had bruising on her thighs.
In her deposition, Mugabe dismissed Engels’ version as
“malicious allegations” and said she had been attacked after going to help her
sons.
“She was worried about them and went to see them at their
hotel suite,” the statement said. “Upon her arrival, Ms Engels, who was
intoxicated and unhinged, attacked Dr. Grace Mugabe with a knife after she was
asked to leave the hotel.”
“Security was left with no other option but to remove Ms
Engels from the hotel suite,” it continued.
The statement also alleged that Engels had been in a fight
with other women at Johannesburg’s Taboo nightclub the previous evening and
suggested that may have been the cause of her injuries.
Afriforum, an Afrikaans civil society group acting on behalf
of Engels, denied both accusations.
“Gabriella never attacked Grace Mugabe in any way and she
did not participate in the fight at Taboo,” Afriforum said.
“It is clear that Grace Mugabe is desperately trying to
escape responsibility for her own violent behavior by using lies to falsely
portray the victim in this case as the perpetrator.”
South Africa granted Grace Mugabe diplomatic immunity,
allowing her to evade immediate prosecution for assault, although Engels and
Afriforum have challenged that decision, saying Mugabe was not in South Africa
on official business.
They also argued that assault was a “grave crime” that was
not covered by diplomatic immunity laws.
The decision to let Grace Mugabe return home caused a row
in South Africa, with the opposition Democratic Alliance also going to court to
overturn the immunity.
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