Honeymoon murder suspect Shrien Dewani 'confided he needed way out of marriage'

1/2
12 April 2012

Honeymoon murder suspect Shrien Dewani privately confided that he was being forced into marriage by his family and "needed to find a way out", a court heard today.

In new evidence, Dewani, 31, is alleged to have told an unnamed witness that he did not want to marry Anni Hindocha, 28, but would be "disowned" by his family if he refused.

Belmarsh magistrates heard how the wealthy care home boss confided in the man in April last year - six months before his wedding to Swedish-born Ms Hindocha in Mumbai.

Hugo Keith QC, for the South African authorities, said: "Dewani told [the witness] how he was engaged and had to get married.

"He said although she was a nice, lovely girl who he liked, he could not break out of the engagement because he would be disowned by his family. He went on to say to the witness he needed to find a way out of it."

Dewani is fighting extradition to South Africa where he faces charges of plotting to murder his wife. He has consistently denied the claims.

Dewani, who is said to be suffering from a post-traumatic stress disorder, sat with his head bowed, mumbling to himself or praying. The court heard the care home boss told hitmen he wanted his wife "taken off the scene". Mr Keith said that on November 9 last year Dewani flew to South Africa with his wife.

After visiting the Kruger National Park, the couple went to Cape Town where they met tour guide and taxi driver Zola Tongo. Tongo, who has pleaded guilty in a plea bargain with the South African authorities, claims Dewani hatched the plot.

Mr Keith said: "After they arrived [at the hotel] Dewani approached him alone and asked him if he knew anyone that could get a client of his taken off the scene. After some discussion Mr Tongo realised that he wanted to have the woman killed."

Mr Keith added that Dewani agreed to pay 15,000 rand - 5,000 for Tongo and 10,000 for the gunmen. The court heard Dewani told Tongo he wanted the murder to look like a carjacking gone wrong and that he and the taxi driver would be ejected from the car before the killers drove off.

Mr Keith added that it was designed to look like a "criminal act and not, as it in fact was, a contract killing".

The hearing is due to be adjourned until July when the court will hear evidence from doctors at the Fromeside medium secure mental health unit to determine whether Dewani is mentally fit to be extradited.

District Judge Howard Riddle excused Dewani from having to appear in court again as it was interfering with his treatment. Ms Hindocha's family were present. The hearing continues.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in