Grace Mugabe 'beat me so badly, I thought it was the end of me' - Bashed model speaks

The South African model allegedly beaten up by First Lady Grace Mugabe has spoken about the attack.

Gabriella Engels told MailOnline that she was 'furious' at the thought that The Zimbabwean president's wife might never face justice after she is reported to have left South Africa after she had been due to surrender to police.

'I am scared she will never be held to account for what she did to me,' Gabriella told the publication from the home she shares with her mother, Debbie.

'She beat me so badly, with all her power and might, I honestly thought it was the end of me.

'Her security guards and bodyguards just stood and watched that happen, I was pleading with her for mercy, I was crying out for help at the top of my voice,' she revealed.

Gabriella explained how she had been briefly introduced to one of the first lady's playboy sons by a mutual friend at the weekend, without knowing who he was.

She said: 'I had been introduced to Chatunga Mugabe, but I wasn't told his last name so had no idea who he was and barely spoke to the guy.

'On Sunday night, me and two other friends were with this mutual friend, who is also from Zimbabwe, and had not even seen the Mugabe brothers that evening, let alone been in the same room as them when this woman came in and just started attacking us.

'I had no idea who she was. She was shouting at us to tell her where her sons were, we just kept repeating that we didn't know them, that we hadn't seen them.

'But she did not listen to that and picked up an electrical cable and just started hitting us with it, including with the plug.

'One of my friends managed to run away, but me and my other friend were just pinned up against the side of the room, I was on my knees and she beat me until blood was running down my face, I could taste it.

'I thought I would fall unconscious. The power of the first blow to my head was just brutal. I thought she was never going to stop, she just kept going and going.

'The room was full of security guys, including her bodyguards. They just stood there, in silence, watching it all happen. Eventually, I managed to get out of the room and run for help.'

It was only later that Gabriella apparently learned the true identity of her attacker. Following the alleged attack, Miss Engels tweeted a picture of a wound on her head.

She wrote on Twitter: 'What is a girl compared to a women beating you and 10+ body guards standing back leaving her to do this s***.

'She split my head open in 3 places with an extension cord and used the plug to hit me.'    

Gabriella's mother, Debbie, told MailOnline: 'I am so proud of her for standing up for herself against such a powerful person.

'I am going to feel very let down if it turns out that Grace Mugabe does not face justice over what she did. When I first saw my girl covered in blood after that beating, I almost collapsed.'

Vish Naidoo, spokesman for the South African Police Service, confirmed to MailOnline that 'a female suspect' in the case made by Gabriella had been due to present herself to police for questioning at 10am this morning, after her lawyer contacted the authorities to make arrangements.

Tonight 52 year-old Mrs Mugabe's whereabouts remain unknown, although her lawyer has reportedly told police that she had not left South Africa.

'An investigation into the case will continue,' Mr Naidoo said, 'and the findings will be presented to the Senior Public Prosecutor in due course.