Briton denies guilt in wife’s ‘honeymoon’ murder
Print Edition
BRITISH millionaire Shrien Dewani pleaded not guilty to murdering his young bride while on a honeymoon in Cape Town and admitted he was bisexual, in an explosive opening to his long-awaited trial yesterday.
Glancing nervously around court and clad in a somber suit and tie, Dewani told the court he was “not guilty” of charges of murder, kidnapping and obstructing justice.
For three years he had fought extradition to South Africa, where he is now being tried for killing Swedish-born bride Anni (nee Hindocha), who was shot dead on November 13, 2010, aged 28. In a statement read by defense lawyer Francois van Zyl, Dewani admitted he was bisexual, but said he was “instantly physically attracted” to Anni and came to love her.
“There was no doubt in my mind that I loved Anni and that I wanted to create a future for both of us,” the statement said.
He was sent back to South Africa in April to answer charges and was declared mentally fit to stand trial.
Dewani claims that he and his bride were hijacked at gunpoint as they drove through Cape Town’s impoverished Gugulethu township in a taxi.
Dewani escaped unharmed, but his wife’s body was found in the abandoned car the next day.
The court was shown graphic footage of the crime scene, including images of Anni’s body, prompting audible gasps from her family.
The prosecution is expected to argue that Dewani is gay and was so desperate to escape an arranged marriage that he hired hitmen to kill his bride on their honeymoon.
One of the main witnesses for the prosecution will be a sado-masochism “master” who will claim that Dewani paid him for sex. Gay prostitute Leopold Leisser is said to have claimed in a statement to British police that Dewani had told him he was getting married to a “lovely girl,” but he needed “to find a way out of it.”
Three South Africans have been tried and convicted and are serving jail sentences of between 18 years and life for their role in Anni Dewani's death.
Taxi driver Zola Tongo admitted guilt in a plea bargain along with another man, Mziwamadoda Qwabe. The two were jailed for 18 and 25 years, respectively. A third man, Xolile Mngeni, was later found guilty of firing the shot that killed Anni Dewani and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Tongo’s claim that Shrien Dewani had offered him 15,000 rand (US$1,300) to have Anni killed is likely to play a key role in the prosecution’s arguments.
Both Dewani and Anni are of Indian origin.
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