Shrien Dewani allegedly offered his taxi driver R1 lakh to have his newlywed wife killed

'Husband plotted honeymoon murder'

Shrien Dewani allegedly offered his taxi driver Rs1 lakh to have his newlywed wife killed

A British businessman of Indian origin conspired to have his Swedish bride murdered while honeymooning in South Africa just weeks after their glitzy Hindu wedding, it was alleged in court yesterday.

The claim marked a sensational twist in the murder of Anni Dewani (28), who was killed after the car in which she was travelling with her husband Shrien Dewani was reportedly hijacked on the outskirts of Cape Town on November 13.

The victim's bullet-riddled body was later found in an impoverished township neighbourhood.

Dewani's husband, who returned to Britain days after the incident, has denied involvement, but the court heard allegations he connived with a taxi driver to stage a robbery and have his wife shot dead.

Three men were originally charged with the murder but as part of a plea bargain the High Court in Cape Town heard one of the accused allege that the husband ordered the killing.

"The deceased was murdered at the instance of her husband," Western Cape director of public prosecutions Rodney de Kock told the court.

The claim that Dewani plotted the murder was made by Zola Tongo, the driver of the taxi in which the couple were travelling in near Cape Town.

Driver claims

Tongo was sentenced to 18 years in jail after pleading guilty to murder and aggravated robbery, as the victim's father looked on and wept.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Eric Ntabazalila said Tongo had given evidence that he was approached by the Briton and promised 15,000 rand (Rs 1 lakh) "to remove someone off the scene."

"After some discussion with him I understood that he wanted someone, a woman, killed," said Tongo in a sworn statement.

Tongo's plea bargain documents reveal that the hijacking was part of a plan devised together with Dewani to conceal the murder.

"Threatening me and Shrien Dewani with a firearm was a mere pretence of force...." he said.

"The hijackers had thereafter driven off with the deceased and Shrien Dewani, with Shrien Dewani's consent, in accordance with the pretence of force, and not in furtherance of kidnapping and robbing him."

The two other men accused of Dewani's killing are due to face trial on February 25.

Prior to the killing, the honeymooners had dined in a seaside restaurant in a town outside Cape Town and were on their way back to the city when Anni asked to see township nightlife, according to reports at the time.