Shrien Dewani emerges carefree from his luxurious London home on the tenth anniversary of the brutal murder of his wife Anni on their honeymoon in South Africa.
Dressed for the gym and carrying a cat in a bag, Mr Dewani’s nonchalant manner was in stark contrast to a sombre scene being played out 900 miles away in Sweden, where Anni’s family were gathering for a moving ceremony by a lakeside in her memory.
Dewani, 40, refused the opportunity to comment as he left his £3.5m flat in an exclusive London area when MailOnline asked for his thoughts on the anniversary of his wife’s shooting.
He simply stared into space, hailed a passing cab and sped off.
Shrien Dewani was pictured this morning leaving his £3.5million flat in London. It is ten years ago today that his wife Anni, 28, was brutally shot in the neck in the back of a taxi, murdered while the couple were on their honeymoon in Cape Town in 2010
Dewani (pictured above), 40, refused the opportunity to comment as he left his £3.5m flat in an exclusive London area
Today Anni’s family held a memorial service to mark her murder 10 years ago. Her eldest sister Ami (above) said: ‘What happened to Anni was not right and not fair. She should have been enjoying her life, but her destiny was something different.’
Anni’s father Vinod (right) and mother Nilam were at the memorial near their home in Mariestad, Sweden, to place roses in a lake where her ashes were scattered. Vinod has called on Mr Dewani to give them answers to their questions about her death
It came as Anni’s family gathered near their home in Mariestad, Sweden, to mark the anniversary of her brutal honeymoon murder.
Her eldest sister Ami Denborg, fought back tears and said: ‘What happened to Anni was not right and not fair. ‘She should have been enjoying her life, but her destiny was something different. She was a very special person and her passing has left an empty space in all of our hearts.’
Anni’s father today appealed to her husband to break his self-imposed silence and give her family answers to their questions about the events surrounding her killing in Cape Town in 2010.
Vinod Hindocha told MailOnline his family had suffered from the moment news of Anni’s murder reached them ‘and that our suffering goes on every minute of every day.’
Mr Dewani, 40, wore gym kit and carried a cat in a bag as he declined to comment on the anniversary at his London home
The Swedish businessman said his family remained traumatised by a South African judge’s decision to abandon the trial of millionaire Dewani, who was accused of her murder.
Dewani, who was later revealed to have led a secret gay life with male prostitutes, was cleared of the charge after the trial collapsed.
The judge decided he had no case to answer. But three other men were convicted of murder. Her family say Dewani has not contacted them or made any attempt to help them through their grief.
Anni, 28, was killed in the back of a taxi while on honeymoon with her new husband in Gugulethu township, near Cape Town on November 13 2010. She had been married for only a few weeks.
She suffered a single gunshot to her neck after her husband fled the taxi which was later found abandoned with her body in it.
He said his life was spared as the two gunmen forced him out of the vehicle at gunpoint, before murdering his new bride.
But he was accused of organising the hit on his wife with the taxi driver and paying him and two accomplices.
During his trial, he admitted he had been leading a secret double life and that he had seen male prostitutes.
One of these men was known as ‘The German Master’ who flew to Cape Town to give evidence of his meetings with Dewani.
But the judge Jeanette Traverso refused to allow the prosecution permission to present him to the court as a witness.
The German Master, whose real name was Leopold Leisser, was found hanged in his Birmingham home in November 2016.
Dewani was declared innocent by the court in Cape Town in December 2014.
The judge threw out the case, saying she was not prepared to rely on the evidence of three convicted men and that the case against Dewani was riddled with lies.
Dewani, 40, was only brought to South Africa from Britain for trial four years after his wife died after experiencing trauma and mental health issues as a result of the murder.
But Anni’s father said: ‘We still do not have the whole story of how it happened. We wanted to hear Shrien tell the court in his own words. He was her husband. He was there.
Anni was killed in the back of a taxi on honeymoon with her new husband in a Cape Town township on November 13 2010. She suffered a single gunshot to her neck after her husband fled the taxi which was later found abandoned with her body in it
Mr Dewani (right) was cleared of involvement in Anni’s murder during a trial in South Africa. Following the court case, Mr Dewani, who is bisexual, has found new love with Brazilian photographer Gledison Lopez Martins (seen together left)
‘His lawyers repeated the words ‘My client will tell the court’ during his trial like a mantra, but then the judge ended the case without Shrien going into the witness box.
‘We never got that opportunity to hear what he had to say. My family would like to talk to him.
‘If he has any respect for us, then he should come and see us and talk to us. After all, I am still his father-in-law and I gave him my daughter. He must help us.’
Three men were convicted over Anni’s death.
South African Xolile Mngeni was convicted of premeditated murder for shooting her. Prosecutors claimed he was a hitman hired by Dewani to kill his wife, which Dewani consistently denied. Mngeni died in prison from a brain tumour.
Taxi driver Zola Tongo was jailed for 18 years after he admitted his part in the killing and another accomplice, Mziwamadoda Qwabe, also pleaded guilty to murder and was handed a 25-year prison sentence.
Anni’s father visited Tongo in his prison last year after he applied for parole. But Mr Hindocha said he did not support an early release for the taxi driver as he believed he was still hiding information and he remains locked-up.
On returning to Britain after being cleared, Dewani found new love with Brazilian photographer Gledison Lopez Martins and has travelled to Mumbai, where he married Anni, with his boyfriend.
Dewani has also taken a leading role in his family’s Bristol-based care home business Evolve and regularly promotes the work homes for the elderly do on Twitter.
Despite rejecting Anni’s family’s pleas to meet them, he has spoken only once about her death publicly since he was cleared.
In a letter to a London coroner in November 2016, he referred to the three convicted men as ‘liars’, stating that there had been an attempt to frame him.
He wrote: ‘I would like to make clear that I have a significant number of questions which remain unanswered about the night that my wife and I were kidnapped and Anni was tragically shot after being taken away from me.
‘Each of the gang members did a deal with the authorities to gain either full immunity or vastly reduced sentences in return for providing evidence against me.
‘It is the evidence of these proven liars that led to a witch hunt against me and the resulting failure to pursue the truth of what happened that night.
‘It is clear that none of the evidence provided by these persons was corroborated in any meaningful way.
‘This has allowed the individuals concerned to literally get away with murder. I understand and share the Hindocha (Anni) family’s frustrations.
‘However the extent of my knowledge of the events leading up to Anni’s murder has already been set out in a detailed publicly available plea. This document was read out in court at the start of my trial.’
Anni’s mother Nilam (left) and father Vinod (right) have spent the last decade seeking answers over their daughter’s death
But Anni’s uncle Ashok said: ‘I am willing to meet him any time, anywhere, to hear his words. He owes us that.’
The family were holding a moving ceremony today to mark the 10th anniversary of her murder on a beach close to a lake where her ashes were immersed at her hometown of Mariestad, Sweden.
Back in London, Dewani is believed to have been living in the lavish two-storey home for the past year and is well known in the local area.
He frequents a popular coffee shop on his way to the gym, where he goes each morning to work out.
A member of staff at the coffee shop, which is located to Lord’s Cricket Ground told MailOnline: ‘He’s here every day and I know him to say hello to. But he’s very quiet and doesn’t say much.
‘I never realised that he was the man whose wife was killed during their honeymoon. I remember the case well because she was so beautiful.’
Source link