Top left, in happier times, Shrien and Anni, right, Shrien at the trial in Cape Town and bottom left, at the scene of the crime in 2010 with the car in which Anni was shot. Image: UK Mirror.
The trial of British businessman Shrien Dewani continued in Cape Town South Africa with the revelation on day two that the man accused of murdering his newly wedded wife in 2010 was in a bisexual relationship with a parliamentary aide from Westminster in England. This follows revelations that emerged on the first day of trial that Dewani was bisexual, a revelation that the prosecution was hoping to cash in on as the motive for the murder of Anni Dewani in what is seen, in the legal fraternity, as the defence’s preemptive strike on the strengths of the prosecution since this revelation was made by Dewani himself.
Shrien Dewani is a British businessman who is accused of masterminding the murder of his then twenty eight year old newly wedded wife, Anni in November, 2010 in Cape Town. The couple had been married in India earlier in the year and travelled to South Africa for their honeymoon. The generally accepted theory is that Shrien organised three men to kill his wife. This murder was apparently staged as a botched car hijacking which resulted in the death of Anni. After the murder, Shrien quickly escaped back to England. After that a protracted legal battle to extradite him to stand trial in South Africa started. He was finally handed over to the South African police in April, 2014 and his trial started in earnest early this week. The three men accused of carrying out the murder, South Africans Zola Tongo, Mziwamadoda Qwabe and Xolile Mngeni have already been convicted of the crime and are serving jail terms.
When the trial began, Shrien revealed in a plea explanation that he was bisexual, stating clearly that he had had sexual relations with both men and women. He further revealed the names of some of the male prostitutes he had slept with. However, the existence of the British parliamentary aide has been bandied around beginning with Channel 4’s Dispatches programme. It is believed the man, who is around fifty years of age ,came out after Dewani’s initial insistence that he was not gay. The unnamed man is expected to travel to Cape Town to give evidence in this high profile international case. Another revelation that emerged is that made by Anni’s cousin, Sneha Hindocha, who revealed that, after the marriage, Anni realised that he had made a mistake and that she had not wanted to go anywhere with her new husband, including South Africa. Sneha claims to have convinced Anni to go ahead with the honeymoon trip and advised her to call her as soon as she saw that things were amiss.
The trial continues on Wednesday.
