‘Grace Mugabe beat me up’
Woman received stitches for gashes to her forehead
A Johannesburg woman claims she was assaulted by Grace Mugabe, the wife of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
Gabriella Engels‚ 20‚ claimed she was assaulted by Mugabe’s wife at a Sandton‚ Johannesburg‚ hotel at about 9pm on Sunday after she went to visit the Zimbabwean president’s two sons.
“We were chilling in a hotel room‚ and they were in the room next door‚” Gabriella said.
“She came in and started hitting us. The front of my forehead is busted open. I’m a model and I make my money based on my looks‚” she said.
She said Mugabe allegedly proceeded to beat her and her two friends with an extension chord‚ while the two sons ran away and Mugabe’s bodyguards looked on.
She said she suffered gashes to her forehead and scalp.
TimesLIVE has seen images of the injuries.
“What is a girl compared to a woman beating you and 10+ bodyguards standing back‚ leaving her to do this sh*t‚” she tweeted about the incident.
Gabriella said she went to the nearest police station on Sunday night‚ but was shown away by the police officer on duty‚ who told her to first seek medical attention.
Gabriella’s mother Debbie said they would go to the police station to open an assault case on Monday (yesterday).
“When she got home [on Sunday] I was already sleeping. She was in so much shock she couldn’t tell me what happened‚” Debbie said. “I rushed her to hospital to get stitches, and when she eventually calmed down she told me she was assaulted by Mugabe’s wife‚” the mother said.
Calls and a Facebook message to Mugabe’s spokesman George Charamba went unanswered yesterday‚ while Mugabe’s son‚ Chatunga Bellarmine‚ also did not respond to Facebook messages.
Zimbabwean media reported that the president’s wife was in SA for treatment after a “freak accident” in which she injured her right ankle.
Garnet Basson‚ chief operating officer of The Capital Hotel Group where the alleged assault took place‚ said there was an incident that prompted management to ask guests to leave the hotel.
“What happened in the hotel room‚ I don’t have a comment on … I can’t disclose the name. We did have guests re- moved from the premises due to a scenario where we thought it was not good for them to stay there.
“It was a decent exit after about a half an hour of discussions,” Basson said.