‘Indian-origin bride Anni ‘wanted to tell something’ before being murdered in SA’

LONDON - The father of Anni Dewani, the Indian-origin bride who was killed during her honeymoon in Cape Town, has said that she wanted to tell him something urgent hours before her murder.

“She said ‘Dad, I have so much to tell you, I’ll be home on Tuesday and I’ll have so much to tell you. She sounded worried. She said the same words to my wife (Nilam) as well,” News 24 quoted her father Vinod Hindocha, as saying.

“She was not herself when she said those words. I’ve known her for 28 years, so I know her tone of voice,” he added.

Hindocha also said that Shrien had concealed the destination for the honeymoon from his new bride, but she only learnt that they were going to South Africa when her mother-in-law let it slip two days before their departure.

“Why would one keep a honeymoon a secret? I don’t know. One should be proud, and say, ‘Oh, we’re going to South Africa,” Hindocha said.

Anni, whose family lives in Sweden, was shot and killed during a reported carjacking on the outskirts of Cape Town.

Zola Tongo, the driver of the taxi in which the young bride was travelling, said he was paid R1 500 for his role in the murder. He was sentenced to 18 years in jail after he turned state’s witness and implicated the victim’s husband in plotting to kill her.

However, her husband Shrien Dewani’s family claim Tongo’s evidence is unreliable because he was offered a reduced sentence in return for co-operating with the investigation. (ANI)