Zimbabwe VP's wife charged with his attempted murder

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The wife of Zimbabwe’s Vice President Constantino Chiwenga was charged Monday with trying to murder her husband, according to media reports.

Marry Mubaiwa, a former model, appeared in court to face allegations that she tried to unplug Chiwenga from life support during a stay in a South African hospital earlier this year.

She initially was arrested Saturday on charges of fraud, money laundering and breaching exchange-control rules. A judge ordered her held pending a bail hearing after prosecutors said she posed a flight risk and could interfere with witnesses.

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Zimbabwean Vice President Constantino Chiwenga with his wife, Marry, in 2018. (AP Photo/Wonder Mashura, File)

Investigators said Mubaiwa was in her husband's hospital room on June 8 when she asked security to leave her alone with him. They said she removed her husband's intravenous drip and a catheter, causing Chiwenga to bleed, and then forced him off the bed.

The security detail interrupted her when she tried to bring him out of the hospital ward, prosecutors said. Chiwenga later went to China for medical treatment for four months before returning to Zimbabwe.

"Justice will prevail at the end of the day so you don't have to worry," Mubaiwa's father, Kenny, told reporters.

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Zimbabwe has made efforts in recent years to curb corruption. President Emmerson Mnangagwa has made the issue a top priority since taking office in 2017.

Critics, however, said the country's anti-corruption commission mainly has targeted people it's viewed as dissenters.

The Associated Press contributed to this report