Dewani: I can't identify the carjackers who shot my wife on our honeymoon

By GEORGE ARBUTHNOTT
Updated:


Doomed: Shrien Dewani at his marriage to Anni Hindocha

Doomed: Shrien Dewani at his marriage to Anni Hindocha

Honeymoon murder suspect Shrien Dewani told police he could not describe his wife’s alleged carjackers and killers.

He detailed how the carjackers had burst into the taxi carrying him and bride Anni and robbed them at gunpoint.

In his initial witness statement, he told how the men sped off with him and Anni before eventually bundling him out of the cab.

Anni, 28, was later found shot dead in the back of the abandoned taxi.

The cabbie Zola Tongo has been jailed for 18 years in Cape Town after admitting his role in the murder.

He claimed that Dewani, 31, offered him £1,600 to arrange the killing.

Last week Dewani, who owns care homes in the Bristol area, faced a legal bid to extradite him from Britain to stand trial in Cape Town. The proceedings resume in July.

Dewani’s statement, obtained by The Mail on Sunday, on the day of the murder last November shows he at first failed to provide a detailed description of the men.

A day after the initial statement, police asked for a second affidavit to ‘clarify certain aspects’.

It is not known whether he was later able to give a more detailed description of the carjackers.

In the statement, Dewani says: ‘I will not be able to describe the male that was driving the car. I can only say the other male was very black, he had two piercings in his right ear. I will not be able to describe his facial features.’

He says he tried to hide his mobile from the carjackers but they searched him and found it.

‘The male put the gun into my ear and put his finger on the trigger and said to me if I lie again he will shoot me,’ Dewani says.

‘My wife Anni kept crying and screaming and told the males not to hurt us.

‘The one male pointed the gun at me and said that I must make her shut up or he will shoot one of us. Anni gave me her wedding rings valued at £25,000. I gave the rings to the male.’

Tragic: The Dewanis were on their honeymoon when they were carjacked in a South African township

Tragic: The Dewanis were on their honeymoon when they were carjacked in a South African township

Dewani says they went to the crime-ridden township of Gugulethu at Anni’s suggestion.

‘Zola took us into Gugulethu because my wife insisted to see how the nightlife in the townships was,’ he says, adding: ‘At a road turning left, I heard a knock on the windscreen. I then saw two black males. One opened the driver door and the other the passenger side door.

Details: Shrien Dewani's handwritten police statement from the night his wife was murdered
Details: Shrien Dewani's handwritten police statement from the night his wife was murdered

Details: Shrien Dewani's handwritten police statement from the night his wife was murdered

‘The driver then started driving very fast over speed bumps, causing the car to jump in the air.

‘The driver stopped the car and I asked where they are going to leave Anni.

‘The one male said that they will leave Anni at the police station.

‘The one male pulled me out of the car. I tried to pull Anni with me but the other male held her arm. The car then sped off.’

Anni, from Mariestad, in Sweden, was found dead in the taxi with a bullet wound in her neck.

Strain: Shrien Dewani (second right) arrives with supporters for his extradition hearing in London

Strain: Shrien Dewani (second right) arrives with supporters for his extradition hearing in London

The two alleged carjackers, Mziwamadoda Qwabe, 25, and Xolile Mngeni, 23, have been charged with murder. Their trial has been postponed until June 1.

Dewani is on bail but is being held at a mental health hospital in Bristol suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and severe mental illness.

In an earlier judgment during the extradition proceedings, a judge said there was no basis to suggest that Dewani failed to co-operate with the investigation.

The judge added that until his arrest Dewani had said that he would return to South Africa to assist an identification parade of the suspects.

Dewani’s lawyer Charlotte Harris said: ‘He co-operated fully with the South African police. He assisted their search operation by providing the mobile number for the taxi driver.

‘This has been corroborated by a witness, Simbonile Matokazi, interviewed by The Mail on Sunday.

‘The South African police, despite travelling to the UK earlier this year, have refused to even interview Mr Dewani regarding the allegations by the taxi driver.’

 

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