Anni Dewani’s family will not rest until they’ve heard Shrien Dewani’s account of her death.
|||Cape Town - It has been almost two years of “torture” for Anni Dewani’s family. But on Thursday there was moment of relief after British courts heard that the mental condition of Shrien Dewani, who faces trial in South Africa for allegedly killing his bride, had improved.
The 33-year-old British businessman, who denies arranging the murder of his wife Anni on a honeymoon in Cape Town, has been fighting extradition to South Africa for more than two years on the grounds that he is depressed and suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder.
But on Thursday, the UK’s Press Association reported that prosecutor Ben Watson told the Westminster Magistrate’s Court: “He has improved, and improved significantly.”
Dewani’s recovery comes as a small blessing in a dark time for Anni’s family, who have seen numerous delays in court proceedings as a troubled Dewani was moved from clinic to clinic over the last two years.
His prolonged battle with mental illness, following Anni’s death, has been marked by reported suicide attempts and relapses which have kept him out of the courts.
Dewani is being treated at a hospital in Bristol for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
“It was a big relief... We are just hoping for closure,” Anni’s uncle, Ashok Hindocha, told the Cape Argus on Thursday. “There were five people in that car, three of them are behind bars, only one man there hasn’t given us an answer.”
Anni, 28, was shot when the taxi in which she and her husband were travelling was hijacked in Gugulethu in November 2010. Taxi driver Zola Tongo later admitted that Dewani had paid him R15 000 to kill Anni. Tongo was sentenced to 18 years in jail.
The cash was shared with his accomplices - Mziwamadoda Qwabe and Xolile Mngeni.
Qwabe was sentenced to 25 years in prison after he admitted that he shot Anni, while Mngeni was convicted last year for firing the shot that killed her. He was sentenced to life in prison.
Hindocha said the news of Dewani’s recovery represented a “huge and positive” step in the right direction. Last month, Anni’s family released pictures which they argued proved she was killed in cold blood.
The pictures, published exclusively by Britain’s The Sun newspaper, show a £25 000 (R340 000) ring belonging to Anni on the seat of the taxi in which she was killed.
“These pictures tell their own story,” her uncle told the paper. If this was a robbery, why would they leave a £25 000 ring behind?
“We just want the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth,” Hindocha said.
He confirmed that the family, including Anni’s parents, would attend Dewani’s next court appearance in the Westminster Magistrate’s Court in July.
“When it moves back to South Africa, we’ll be flying down. We will be in court until this is over.”
However, prosecutor Ben Watson warned that the businessman was still “moderately depressed” and was still suffering from moderate post-traumatic stress disorder.
Dewani was excused from attending Thursday’s hearing because of the risk to his improving mental health.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said that while Dewani’s health was improving, it had to be noted he still had not completely recovered: “There was a court ruling that said until he has recovered he will remain in England.”
At this time an extradition back to South Africa cannot take place, but Ntabazalila said it was still extremely positive news.
“Our aim is still to get him back to South Africa, to make him come and stand in court and answer all the allegations we put to him.” - Cape Argus