dpa/Johannesburg
Zimbabwe's volatile first lady Grace Mugabe has denied she attacked a South African model with an extension cord at a Johannesburg hotel last month, saying that in fact the "intoxicated" and "unhinged" woman attacked her with a knife.
Mugabe was "not guilty" of the assault charge laid against her by 20-year-old Gabriella Engels, according to a deposition to a South African magistrates court filed by the first lady and the government, and seen Monday by dpa.
Engels has said she was at the hotel in the affluent Sandton neighbourhood with two of Mugabe's sons when the 52-year-old arrived and lashed out at her without reason.
The incident on August 13 caused diplomatic tension between the neighbouring countries after Grace Mugabe claimed diplomatic immunity.
"Her sons were in trouble with a drunken young woman," the court document filed on behalf of the first lady reads.
"Ms. Engels who was intoxicated, and unhinged, attacked Dr. Grace Mugabe with a knife" and had to be removed from the hotel, the document reads, adding that Mugabe reserved the right to press attempted murder charges against the model.
The document also alleged that a gash to the head that Engels said was the result of the extension cord was in fact from an earlier fight at a nightclub.
It is not the first time Grace Mugabe has been accused of violent behaviour.
She was briefly detained in Singapore for allegedly assaulting reporters, and a photographer in Hong Kong also claimed she had attacked him as he tried to take her picture.
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