Drama as husband avoids ID parade
New twist to honeymoon murder : Lead detective replaced on eve of court date
Nov 28, 2010 12:00 AM | By SHANAAZ EGGINGTON and ANTON FERREIRAThe husband of murdered honeymoon bride Anni Dewani did not attend a police identity parade yesterday, where witnesses pointed out three men arrested for the gruesome crime.
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CONVOY: The three murder suspects leave the Manenberg police station after an identification parade this week Picture: ESA ALEXANDER
There's a lot of things here that don't match up - murdered woman's uncle
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The identity parade was held in Cape Town amid an international storm of claim and counter-claim over whether Dewani is a suspect in the killing.
Anni's uncle Ashok Hindocha told The Telegraph this week: "All the Hindocha family want is to know by whom and for what our girl was murdered. I can tell you, if it was my wife who was murdered I would jump into a plane, go there and ask those people, 'Why did you kill my wife and for what?' This is a question that not only the Hindocha family but millions of people around the world would like to know."
But police hinted that Dewani's presence at yesterday's identity parade was not vital.
The Sunday Times has established that the lead investigator in the case has been replaced by a new team of detectives. Dewani has given differing accounts of what happened on the night two weeks ago when the couple were apparently hijacked in a taxi in Guguletu, Cape Town. Anni was shot in the neck.
Dewani has hired leading South African lawyer Billy Gundelfinger and a top UK spin doctor, Max Clifford.
Gundelfinger said yesterday that Dewani, who went home to Bristol four days after the murder, had not been asked to attend the parade.
"My client has not been asked to come to South Africa," he said. "He has not been asked to participate in an ID parade and he is not in South Africa."
The three suspects arrested so far - driver Zola Robert Tongo, Xolile Mngeniand Mziwamadoda Qwabe - will appear in Cape Town's Wynberg Regional Court tomorrow on charges of murder, aggravated robbery and kidnapping.
All three were at the identity parade at the Manenberg Police Station. Mngeni's attorney, Vusi Tshabalala, said: "Three suspects were pointed out by two witnesses who placed them in a particular place at a particular time."
Tshabalala did not know whether police would charge anyone else.
Top criminal lawyer William Booth put in a surprise appearance, saying only that Gundelfinger had contacted him "for advice" regarding the case. He denied receiving instructions to act for anyone.
Anni's family in Sweden said they don't know what to think.
"There's a lot of things here that don't match up," Hindocha told the Sunday Times. "There are far more questions than answers."
Hindocha said he had read the reports that Shrien was a suspect. "We can't comment on any rumours, nobody is guilty until proven guilty."
Speculation about what really happened when the honeymoon couple and Tongo were apparently hijacked has been stoked by contradictory accounts given by Dewani.
Inconsistencies include:
- He first said it was Anni's idea to visit the township, but later said Tongo had suggested it;
- He said two hijackers had pushed him out of the moving vehicle through a back window, but he had no cuts or bruises to show for it; and
- He said the vehicle was hijacked deep in the township, but his brother Preyen later said the hijack happened on or near the N2 highway.
The owner of Platinum Escapes said Tongo was moonlighting at the time.
Clifford launched a blistering attack on the South African police and media this week, accusing them of dragging his client's name through the mud.
"It has been claimed it was an arranged marriage and there was insurance money on Anni's life," he said.
"Both those claims are lies and are deeply hurtful to Shrien. Other rumours include the allegation he knew the taxi driver before the holiday, which is also totally untrue."
Clifford said Dewani had been through a "living nightmare".
"Every day we are hearing more bogus claims and lies. It has been said Shrien will return to South Africa but I can tell you he is at home and under sedation after the shock he has been through," Clifford said.
UK newspapers quoted "friends" of Dewani as saying he believed the South African Police were trying to set him up because they were under political pressure to pin the crime on a foreigner.
But Hindocha said Anni's family had "full trust" in the South African Police.
Police yesterday refused to answer any questions regarding the case. National police spokesman Tummi Shai said there would be no further comment until the investigation was closed: "Only then will our national police chief, General Bheki Cele, brief the press."
