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Alleged Miscarriages of Justice => The kidnapping and shooting/murder of Anni Dewani while on her honeymoon in South Africa. Trial of Shrien Dewani was held in Cape Town, SA. => Topic started by: Joanne on July 12, 2012, 05:16:47 PM

Title: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: Joanne on July 12, 2012, 05:16:47 PM
Anni Dewani was the lady murdered in South Africa on honeymoon. Her husband Shrien Dewani (her new husband) has been extrdited to South Africa to stand trial.

Anni Dewani (née Hindocha, born 12 March 1982) was a Swedish-born ethnic Indian Lohana Hindu woman who, while on her honeymoon in South Africa, was kidnapped and then murdered whilst taking a taxi on a slum tourism trip through Gugulethu township near Cape Town on 13 November 2010. Taxi driver Zola Robert Tongo later admitted guilt on the charges of murder in a plea bargain, and was sentenced on 7 December 2010, to 18 years in jail. Two further defendants, Xolile Mnguni, 23, and Mziwamadoda Qwabe, 25, face charges of murder, aggravated robbery and kidnapping.

In his admission of guilt statement, Tongo alleged that Dewani's husband, British national Shrien Dewani of Bristol, had offered him a sum of 15000 rand to murder his wife. South African authorities are currently trying to extradite Shrien back to South Africa via the British legal system, while Shrien Dewani continues to claim innocence within the kidnap and murder plot. Shrien Dewani's family described the allegations of Tongo as "totally ludicrous."

Anni DewaniThe Hindocha family, Hindus living in Uganda, were forced to leave the country in the early 1970s after ruler Idi Amin expelled them. Granted residence in Sweden, they settled in Mariestad, where their daughter Anni was born and raised. After training as an engineer, she joined Ericsson. After collecting Anni's ashes from a London-based undertaker in the first week of March 2011, the Hindocha family scattered them in her favourite area of the Vänern lake.

Shrien DewaniShrien Dewani is also a Hindu Lohana and was born in Bristol, and raised at the family home in Westbury-on-Trym. Educated at Bristol Grammar School and the University of Manchester, he qualified as a chartered accountant with Deloitte, working in the City of London. In 2005 he resigned his position, to help found and run his family's chain of PSP Healthcare old peoples homes.

Anni Hindocha visited her cousin Sneha in Luton, Bedfordshire, England in 2009, and met Shrien Dewani through mutual friends. Their first formal date was to watch The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre in London's West End, and they then alternated their weekend meetings between Bristol and Stockholm. After gaining permission from her family, Shrien proposed to Anni at the Hôtel Ritz, Paris, in June 2010, with a £25,000 diamond engagement ring balanced on a red rose. Shortly afterwards, Anni moved to Bristol to help her fiancé run his family's care home business. Under her maiden name, in 2010 Anni entered Bristol's Top Model competition. The couple married at the Lake Powai resort outside Mumbai, India, on 29 October,.300 guests attended the traditional three-day Hindu marriage event. They were planning a civil ceremony that would take place in the UK in 2011, for friends who could not attend the Indian ceremony.

MurderAfter landing at Cape Town International Airport on 7 November,, the couple took an internal flight, and stayed for four nights at the Kruger National Park. On 12 November,, the couple returned to Cape Town International Airport, and were then driven by Zola Tongo to the five-star Cape Grace hotel.

Shrien then commented to the South African Police Service and the press, that his wife had wanted to see the real Africa. They decided to travel to Mzoli's BBQ restaurant, as recommended by chef Jamie Oliver in his magazine that year. Located in the Gugulethu township, the couple arranged to be driven there by Tongo in his VW Sharan taxi.

But after dining at a restaurant in Strand, and while being driven around the township while undertaking slum tourism, Shrien stated that the taxi had been hijacked by two armed men, who removed Tongo. Now held at gunpoint, the couple were driven around the township, being told by the kidnappers: "We are not going to hurt you. We just want the car." After 20 minutes, at a distance of 11 miles (18 km) from the original hijacking, after being threatened at gunpoint, Shrien was thrown out of the back window of the moving taxi.

After Shrien flagged down a passing car and contacted the police, a police helicopter spotted the Sharan taxi abandoned 2 miles (3.2 km) away in the township of Khayelitsha. At 07:50 on the morning of 14 November, Anni Dewani was found dead inside the back of the VW Sharan in Lingelethu West. Severely beaten and bruised, she had suffered a single gunshot wound to her neck. Police later confirmed that Anni's Giorgio Armani wristw..ch, a white-gold and diamond bracelet, her handbag and her BlackBerry mobile phone were missing assumed stolen.

The rest can be read at -:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Anni_Dewani
Who think's the husband did it? I do.

Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: Padgates staff on November 22, 2012, 01:35:07 PM
I think two (or it might be three) people have been jailed reagrding this already. Whether Shrien Dewani gets extraditied we'll see.
The wiki page has been updated-: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Anni_Dewani#Conviction_of_Zola_Tongo
There's a programme here-: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiOIUgrTvso
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: John on November 22, 2012, 02:00:33 PM
Anni Dewani was a Swedish-born ethnic Indian Lohana Hindu woman who, while on her honeymoon in South Africa, was kidnapped and then murdered whilst taking a taxi on a slum tourism trip through Gugulethu township near Cape Town on 13 November 2010.


(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--YfJXZY8ykk/TrcMJ_7nhCI/AAAAAAAABYM/ELMzL8G5AOQ/s728/anni.jpg)
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: frank50 on February 25, 2013, 03:02:49 PM
Ive got to say that the prospect of Dewani getting a fair trial ( notwithstanding that he's clearly guilty) is diminished by the fact that the investigating officer up to last week ( I assume he is now suspended from all cases) was none other than Botha, the bumbling idiot in the Pistorius case.
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: John on February 25, 2013, 08:39:02 PM
Ive got to say that the prospect of Dewani getting a fair trial ( notwithstanding that he's clearly guilty) is diminished by the fact that the investigating officer up to last week ( I assume he is now suspended from all cases) was none other than Botha, the bumbling idiot in the Pistorius case.

I quite agree Frank.  South Africa appears to resemble the Wild West now with Warrant Officer Hilton Botha shooting up a minibus carrying seven people in order to make an arrest.  Now he is also facing seven attempted murder charges.

Is this really the best that South Africa can come up with in such high profile cases?
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: frank50 on February 26, 2013, 12:35:29 AM
The latest is that Dewani has chest problems caused apparently by his medication and is in hospital. What a coincidence with one month to go until his next court hearing.
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: Angelo222 on February 26, 2013, 01:28:11 AM
The latest is that Dewani has chest problems caused apparently by his medication and is in hospital. What a coincidence with one month to go until his next court hearing.

He is merely putting off the inevitable imo.  It is only a matter of time before he is extradited to South Africa to face charges of having his wife murdered.
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: Redblossom on April 09, 2013, 06:43:18 PM
Ive got to say that the prospect of Dewani getting a fair trial ( notwithstanding that he's clearly guilty) is diminished by the fact that the investigating officer up to last week ( I assume he is now suspended from all cases) was none other than Botha, the bumbling idiot in the Pistorius case.

Oh so now oscar is definitiely innocent? No one knows this. Why jump the gun?
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: Redblossom on April 09, 2013, 06:51:05 PM
I must say shrien is guilty as hell in my book, but thats just my personal opinion. Then again, maybe he is not but is afraid of south african justice. Why did he take her on that taxi journey onher honeymoon through dangerous places?
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: allesklar on May 13, 2013, 08:17:16 AM
Ive got to say that the prospect of Dewani getting a fair trial ( notwithstanding that he's clearly guilty) is diminished by the fact that the investigating officer up to last week ( I assume he is now suspended from all cases) was none other than Botha, the bumbling idiot in the Pistorius case.

I think you might be getting your facts a bit twisted there, Frank50. There was a "Christian Botha", private investigator, mentioned in peripheral connection to this case. As far as I know, he has no connection to the police officer in the Pistorius case, Hilton Botha. In the Dewani case, the investigation has been carried out by the 'Hawks' team, led by Captain Paul Hendrikse.
If you have different information, I would be interested to learn the source...
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: AnneGuedes on August 10, 2013, 10:26:25 PM
I must say shrien is guilty as hell in my book, but thats just my personal opinion. Then again, maybe he is not but is afraid of south african justice. Why did he take her on that taxi journey onher honeymoon through dangerous places?
Why would this man have his new beautiful wife killed by order ? Even if he was forced to marry her for some honour reason, that doesn't make sense. I thought that the jewels could be the motive. The insurance would pay for jewels (in fact the stolen ones would be fakes) if and only if there was a serious attack. The murder could have been an accident because Anni fought.
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: Outlook on August 10, 2013, 10:29:47 PM
Why would this man have his new beautiful wife killed by order ? Even if he was forced to marry her for some honour reason, that doesn't make sense. I thought that the jewels could be the motive. The insurance would pay for jewels (in fact the stolen ones would be fakes) if and only if there was a serious attack. The murder could have been an accident because Anni fought.
Which is more than her husband did!  No man in his right mind would have taken her through that area at night.  One story in the press is that he was gay and they did not really get on.

Funny "The Lawyers" do not care about Anni's Human Rights but then she was only a woman and she is dead now so she can be safely ignored.

Strange case, in most car-jackings the man is instantly robbed and killed and the woman is raped and butchered later and the car stolen.  In this case the man is released and the woman is killed without being raped and the car was not stolen.
 8-)(--)  weird...

Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: AnneGuedes on August 14, 2013, 05:43:22 PM
It sounds like some kind of a stupid prank that turned horribly wrong.
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: Outlook on August 15, 2013, 07:45:53 PM
It sounds like some kind of a stupid prank that turned horribly wrong.
Yes the sort of prank any husband gets up to on honeymoon with his new wife.  The sort of good humored joke that ends up with her shot through the neck and her pants around her knees and her dress pulled up!

Of course she is only an Asian girl, not worth anything and no human rights unlike a valuable European woman!  No reason for him to answer any questions.

Go back to obsessively speculating over a four year kid you never knew!
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: AnneGuedes on August 18, 2013, 07:24:27 PM
Yes the sort of prank any husband gets up to on honeymoon with his new wife.  The sort of good humored joke that ends up with her shot through the neck and her pants around her knees and her dress pulled up!

Of course she is only an Asian girl, not worth anything and no human rights unlike a valuable European woman!  No reason for him to answer any questions.

Go back to obsessively speculating over a four year kid you never knew!
No Asian girl. You're speculating about an European married woman you never knew!
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: AnneGuedes on August 24, 2013, 12:58:29 AM
Seriously Anne, how does this sound remotely like a prank? Either Shrien Dewani set her up to be killed, or he is telling the truth and they were kidnapped and she was murdered. She was quite obviously deliberately murdered and that is never a prank of any description. Regardless of Shrien Dewani's guilt or innocence it obviously is not a prank of any description. It is a vicious and cowardly murder. Only the number of people involved and their identities are yet to be fully resolved.
If it was a deliberately planned murder, what was the motive ? What could Shrien hope to gain out of it ? If he orchestrated all this, he was also risking to be caught, as it in fact happened. So it must have been crucial for him. Why ? And what about his mental state ? Is it faked ?
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: Angelo222 on August 24, 2013, 03:53:49 PM
Well the evidence given in court so far appears to point to his involvement in setting up the whole distasteful mess.
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: AnneGuedes on August 24, 2013, 07:56:23 PM
Well the evidence given in court so far appears to point to his involvement in setting up the whole distasteful mess.
I'm not denying this, Angelo, but it doesn't make sense. Admitting he had no other way to get rid of a wife he was for some reason forced to marry in spite of the repulsion she inspired him, why setting up such mess ? It was like signing his crime ! He had no chance to come out of this as a victim. Those guys of course would talk and denounce him to save a part of their skin.
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: Angelo222 on August 25, 2013, 03:33:32 AM
I'm not denying this, Angelo, but it doesn't make sense. Admitting he had no other way to get rid of a wife he was for some reason forced to marry in spite of the repulsion she inspired him, why setting up such mess ? It was like signing his crime ! He had no chance to come out of this as a victim. Those guys of course would talk and denounce him to save a part of their skin.

People with mental heath problems do the weirdest things for all sorts of reasons.
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: AnneGuedes on August 25, 2013, 06:19:19 PM
People with mental heath problems do the weirdest things for all sorts of reasons.
Well, this has yet to be demonstrated, Angelo. Actually very often the weirdest things are done by people diagnosed as mentally responsible, not schizo, parano or whatever.
What sort of mental health problem would you identify in the cultured and educated XXth people who forced other people into subhuman conditions in order to despise them and to destroy them?
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: Sherlock Holmes on October 13, 2013, 12:58:56 AM
I'm not denying this, Angelo, but it doesn't make sense. Admitting he had no other way to get rid of a wife he was for some reason forced to marry in spite of the repulsion she inspired him, why setting up such mess ? It was like signing his crime ! He had no chance to come out of this as a victim. Those guys of course would talk and denounce him to save a part of their skin.

If he was gay -- we discussed this on the other thread - a claim for which there seems to be a reasonable amount of evidence,  and the couple did not sleep together before the wedding (according to Anni's account), he may not have realised until after the wedding itself that he was unable to consummate the relationship. This could have caused him to panic, explaining the hasty way in which the crime was arranged, and why he did not try and find a way out of the relationship earlier.

He may have thought that he could have a reasonably normal relationship with his wife, to the extent she would not suspect he was gay. (Yes, it does happen in today's world, more often than one would imagine. I know of a few cases myself and I am just a young thing, much younger than my pipe-smoking avatar!).
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: lane99 on June 20, 2014, 09:03:54 PM
If it was a deliberately planned murder, what was the motive ? What could Shrien hope to gain out of it ?...

He was under pressure from his very conservative family (who also had control of his purse strings) to get married.  And being gay was certainly not an option his family would have accepted.

Getting married, suffering a tragic loss, and then being a lifelong widower in mourning for "the love of his life" was one way to get his family off his back and avoid being written out of the will.

The above appears to me the most likely motive for the murder, if it indeed was orchestrated by Shrien Dewani.
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: John on June 24, 2014, 01:56:18 PM
He was under pressure from his very conservative family (who also had control of his purse strings) to get married.  And being gay was certainly not an option his family would have accepted.

Getting married, suffering a tragic loss, and then being a lifelong widower in mourning for "the love of his life" was one way to get his family off his back and avoid being written out of the will.

The above appears to me the most likely motive for the murder, if it indeed was orchestrated by Shrien Dewani.

Should be an eye opener of a trial if the previous dramatics are anything to go by.
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: dewanifacts on August 04, 2015, 06:50:11 PM
He was under pressure from his very conservative family (who also had control of his purse strings) to get married.  And being gay was certainly not an option his family would have accepted.

But they have accepted it. And they've also accepted the fact that Shrien's sister is openly lesbian. Neither child has been disowned. Shrien is apparently working in the family business and going on holidays, so clearly he still has access to the family money.

This entire line of argument can be chucked out the window.
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: Passer-by on August 08, 2015, 10:12:28 PM
But they have accepted it. And they've also accepted the fact that Shrien's sister is openly lesbian. Neither child has been disowned. Shrien is apparently working in the family business and going on holidays, so clearly he still has access to the family money.

This entire line of argument can be chucked out the window.

They've accepted it retrospectively - it was the lesser if 2 evils for their family honour, wasn't it?  And let's face it, Cape Town is one if the gayest cities in the planet and it's highly likely that was not the first time he'd been there.
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: dewanifacts on August 10, 2015, 10:54:48 AM
I can't speak to the gayness of Cape Town but will take your word for it.  There is no record of Shrien ever visiting Cape Town, or indeed SA previously. You say "highly likely" as though its virtually a known fact that he visited, but its plain speculation just like the Dr Pox story. These sorts of tangential red herring stories just act as a distraction from the actual facts of the case. 

Don't forget, first and foremost, he's been completely exonerated of any wrongdoing.  Any talk of family honour, him being at risk of being disinherited, cultural pressures to marry etc are interesting topics in their own right, but have little relevance to the facts of the case.  It just amounts to speculation as to a possible motive.  But what's the point discussing possible motive when there isn't any evidence whatsoever of wrongdoing?  The judge quite rightly decided that that little sideshow was of no value to the court.  She was looking for evidence of guilt but all she found was fabricated evidence, contradictions, and lies specifically designed to incriminate the accused - it's all there in the judgement. http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAWCHC/2014/188.html
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: Passer-by on August 10, 2015, 11:54:23 AM
If you have to take my word for it that Cape Town is packed to the gills with gay people you clearly haven't been there.  So I find it really odd that you challenged my knowledge of the Airport, the taxi system and what everyone obviously does when visiting that beautiful city.  You clearly have no perspective of how epically out of place his actions were.  It is utterly beyond belief that anyone would go to the Cape Grace and then poke off 30-40 miles away to look at a slum.  I'm betting - though of course I don't know - that they didn't go for a tour of the slums of Mumbai to patronise the poor people when they got married there.
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: dewanifacts on August 10, 2015, 02:12:40 PM
Having enjoyed a marvellous two week family vacation in Cape Town in 2007, I concur that it is one of the world's most attractive tourist destinations. I wasn't aware of the sexuality of most of the people around us so unfortunately I have to defer to your intricate knowledge of the gay scene.

Interestingly, we did barely any of the activities that you detailed in your post in the other thread yet it was still one of our most memorable vacations ever and we hope to return one day to that beautiful city. 

Just goes to show how everyone travels differently, eh?

 
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: Passer-by on August 10, 2015, 02:51:36 PM
I'm astonished you didn't notice how many couples only had a single gender.  It was the Gay Pound that rehabilitated the centre of Cape Town starting from the notorious de Waterkant district where they did up all the former slave cottages to be stunning townhouses with rooftop gardens:  it's very well known.  Obviously I'm making a big leap in assuming that men who hold hands and women who kiss each other are gay without questioning them about their sexuality, but I can assert that in the apartment building I lived in right in the centre most of my neighbours were gay couples.  When I rented it out it was via an agent who was openly gay.  I gather some of the people they let it to were gay.  Strike up conversations with people in bars:  transact business meetings, visit the GP, go round houses with estate agents - all openly gay.  If you go to Third Beach you will notice that everyone else is a single-gender couple:  it is famous for being a 'gay beach' - I used to go to it every day because it is smaller and quieter and there was less risk of my toddler running off.  If you go around the CBD there are loads of Kookie little antique shops, clothes and book and book shops with very flamboyant owners.

In fact you're right, you barely touched Cape Town if you didn't notice - that's without even going to Cape Point Gym. 

And which Township did you visit?
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: dewanifacts on August 10, 2015, 03:01:00 PM
Didn't notice the gayness. I must not have a very attuned gaydar. Was perhaps preoccupied with making sure the little ones didn't wander off.   

Did not visit a township, although next time I think I might. Will hopefully be sans children. Cape Town's tourism website certainly makes a visit to Gugulethu sound like a good experience.

http://www.capetown.travel/attractions/entry/Gugulethu

Will likely do a safe guided tour. Don't think we'll be trusting a taxi driver to be our guide!
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: Passer-by on August 11, 2015, 09:32:17 AM
Didn't notice the gayness. I must not have a very attuned gaydar. Was perhaps preoccupied with making sure the little ones didn't wander off.   

Did not visit a township, although next time I think I might. Will hopefully be sans children. Cape Town's tourism website certainly makes a visit to Gugulethu sound like a good experience.

http://www.capetown.travel/attractions/entry/Gugulethu

Will likely do a safe guided tour. Don't think we'll be trusting a taxi driver to be our guide!

So you went to Cape Town and didn't do anything on my long list of famous things to do in Cape Town nor did you set off for the unbeaten track:  what the heck did you do that makes you so confident you know so much about the place you have a more authoritative idea than me of what's 'normal' for a tourist to do?

I note that on your link it only got 2 reviews - a 1star saying:

"I think Mzoli sucks, its dirty and not conducive for foreigners, the area needs to be cleaned up, you need a 5 star hotel in the area but you have a white government, that will not happened"

And a 4-star for a specific bar from someone with a popular South African first name.

Meanwhile at Wikipedia:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gugulethu

"Though much more tranquil than it was under apartheid, Gugulethu is still a troubled area."

"According to data collected by the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) over 700 people were murdered in Gugulethu between 2005 and 2010. 'This amounts to one murder every two-and-a-half days for five consecutive years.' "

"On June 10, 2014, 62-year-old Mbuyiselo Manona was murdered in Gugulethu, in a cannibalistic event. Andrew Chimboza stabbed Manona, and removed his heart while he was still alive. Chimboza then gouged out Mr Manona's heart and ate it as he lay bleeding to death 'to show him that I am not a moffie [gay]'. " - this doesn't even stand out particularly, it's the kind of thing that's in the news every week along with Muti Killings, Mass Murders, Family Anihilators, Witchcraft etc

But I hasten to add in case I'm putting-off anyone else who is reading from visiting:  I drove literally all over the place for nearly a decade with no trouble because I used my common sense.  There is absolutely no reason why even most respectable black South Africans would want to go to this place:  the area is famously trouble.

A vignette from the Guardian:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/nov/21/south-africa-gugulethu-tourist-murder (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/nov/21/south-africa-gugulethu-tourist-murder)
Title: Re: Anni Dewani - Introduction to the case
Post by: lane99 on October 16, 2020, 08:12:43 PM
Approaching ten years since Anni Hindocha was lured to South Africa and killed in a murder for hire that was staged to look like a random hijacking. 

Of the five people implicated in the murder conspiracy her husband, Shrien Dewani, was the only one who had so much as met her prior to the week-end of her assassination.  On the night of her murder he had made a secret payment to her killers, and then lied to police to help the killers cover their tracks.