Shrien Dewani's brother reportedly attempted to hire a South African private detective in the hours before Anni Dewani's body was found, according to British newspaper The Telegraph.
Preyen Dewani, in the company of Shrien's father Prakash, contacted private detective Dave Miller from the United Kingdom in the early hours of the morning following the couple's alleged hijacking in a township near Cape Town. They were apparently worried that the SAPS was not giving the matter its urgent attention.
"When you have someone in a state of shock, and the first three or four minutes it's like a bomb has exploded, you want everything done at once but my view is that you let it take its course and not run in like a bull in a china shop," Miller, a former police detective who now runs 'Sleuth Detectives', told The Telegraph.
"In the morning when the daylight arrived, if police hadn't taken them seriously, if they had not allocated senior officers, I would get involved," he added.
"I just told the family that it was terrible and I hoped she was alive and I would get involved but let's just give it five or six hours. Let's see what the police come up with."
An unnamed member of the Dewani family confirmed with The Telegraph that the conversation took place.
"In London, Preyen and Prakash [Shrien's brother and father] typed 'PI' into the internet to see if anyone had any formal contacts or the ability to start looking because with something like this it's important they do something immediately.
"They contacted this chap Dave Miller and his response was that we should wait five hours until daylight and if nothing had happened to contact him again.
"He said usually in these circumstances, they leave the person out of the car or they have something by first light."
In November, Anni was killed in an apparent hijacking in a township near Cape Town, but her husband and the driver were freed by the attackers.
Anni's body was later found in the back of the abandoned vehicle. Three suspects, including the driver, have since been arrested. Shrien Dewani, who was officially implicated by the driver, is out on bail in Britain.
Dewani's legal team is gathering evidence in an attempt to block South Africa's attempts to have him extradited to face trial.
http://news.iafrica.com/sa/694975.html
