JOHANNESBURG (AP) – A South African model’s claims of assault have drawn attention to Zimbabwe’s increasingly outspoken first lady Grace Mugabe, who is a possible successor to her 93-year-old husband. As President Robert Mugabe flew to neighboring South Africa in part to deal with the crisis, Zimbabwe’s government requested diplomatic immunity for the first lady and South African police issued a “red alert” to prevent her from leaving.
Here’s a look at the wife of the world’s oldest head of state, who has faced assault claims elsewhere in the past:
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WHAT HAPPENED?
Twenty-year-old model Gabriella Engels claims that the 52-year-old Grace Mugabe attacked her with an extension cord in a luxury hotel in a Johannesburg suburb on Sunday evening.