Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Anni Dewani's parents retrace last hours of murdered bride's life

Vinod Hindocha and wife Nilam travel to South Africa to pay tribute to daughter killed on her honeymoon
Vinod Hindocha
Vinod Hindocha, the father of Anni Dewani, in Cape Town. He says being in South Africa is 'incredibly painful and at the same time helpful' for his wife. Photograph: Schalk Van Zuydam/AP
South African police will accompany the parents of murdered honeymoon bride Anni Dewani on a journey retracing the last few hours of her life.

Vinod Hindocha and his wife Nilam said they had travelled to Cape Town from their home in Mariestad, Sweden, to pay tribute to their daughter. "We have prepared a laminated photograph of Anni and cards from family members which we will lay at the spot in the township where her body was found,'' said Mr Hindocha, 52.

A Hindu priest will accompany the couple to Khayelitsha township and is expected to perform a short blessing. The shrine will be decorated with lanterns and flowers, including a heart-shaped wreath featuring 28 red roses – one for each year of the Swedish engineer's life.

South African prosecutors have applied for the extradition from Britain of Anni's husband, 31-year-old Shrien Dewani. The businessman, from Westbury-on-Trym, near Bristol, is next due before City of Westminster magistrates' court on 23 March. Three days have been set aside for his extradition hearing from 3 May.

This week, South African prosecutors said they wished to apply for Dewani's bail to be reversed after what they interpreted as an apparent suicide attempt. Dewani has denied any involvement in the murder of his wife on 13 November last year during their honeymoon.
Last week, a Cape Town court delayed the trial of two alleged hitmen until 1 June.

Mziwamadoda Qwabe and Xolile Mngeni are accused of abducting and killing Hindocha after a car hijacking.

Soon after Hindocha's murder, the couple's driver, Zola Tongo, entered into a plea bargain deal with the South African state, and named Dewani as the instigator of the crime.

Vinod Hindocha is in South Africa for the second time since his daughter's murder but his wife is there for the first time. He said being in Cape Town was "incredibly painful and at the same time helpful'' for his wife.

"She just cries all the time. I don't know how she has survived this ordeal so far," he said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/02/anni-dewani-parents-murdered-bride