London Evening Standard/London
The family of Anni Dewani yesterday said they felt they were “closer to the truth” as her husband prepared to fly to South Africa to stand trial for her murder. Shrien Dewani, 34, is accused of masterminding the murder of his new bride by arranging for their taxi to be hijacked and for her to be shot near Cape Town in November 2010.
He insists he is innocent.
Anni’s father, Vinod Hindocha, told of their relief as two South African detectives prepared to take the millionaire Bristol businessman to Heathrow yesterday evening after a three-and-a-half year battle against extradition.
Hindocha, who has attended 27 court hearings during that time, said: “At last Shrien is being returned to South Africa. It is not going to bring my beautiful daughter back. But we are a step closer to knowing exactly what happened. That is what we have been waiting for.”
Hindocha, 65, added at his home in Mariestad, Sweden: “It is up to Shrien to tell everybody exactly what happened. I say to him, ‘Give us the truth and help us reach closure’. That’s all we ask for.”
Dewani, who has been treated for post traumatic shock in a Bristol hospital, is due to board a British Airways flight to Cape Town in the company of top South African detectives Mike Barkhuizen and Paul Hendrikse, as well as a nurse and doctor. Members of his family are also said to be booked on the flight and defence lawyers in Cape Town have been hired to represent him when he appears before Western Cape High Court.
Three men are already serving time for their involvement in Anni’s death: tour bus operator Zola Tongo, who implicated Dewani in in his confession, Xolile Mngeni, who prosecutors claim was the hitman, and another accomplice, Mziwamadoda Qwabe, who pleaded guilty to murder and is serving a 25-year prison sentence.