MORE than a month after Shrien Dewani was acquitted of the murder of their daughter, Vinod and Nilam Hindocha still cannot come to terms with the outcome. Speaking to POST from his UK home, Vinod said they were having sleepless nights. The couple’s daughter, Anni Dewani, was killed on November 13, 2010, in Gugulethu, Cape Town, while on honeymoon with her husband Shrien. She sustained a single bullet wound to the neck. Last month, Western Cape Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso found that key State witness Zola Tongo, the only witness to implicate Dewani in the alleged conspiracy, had given evidence that was “so improbable, contained so many mistakes, lies and inconsistencies that one simply cannot know where the lies end and where the truth begins”. Said Hindocha: “We cannot understand and have not been able to digest the case. We were so confident before we came to South Africa and had the promise given to us by the prosecutors. We had never dreamt of a conclusion like this.” The 64-year-old electrical engineer added: “How can you win a case with not one single witness coming forward? There were so many witnesses from the UK. All we know is that South Africa took our daughter away and now there are stories of a robbery and kidnapping. We can’t buy this. The whole of Cape Town knows what happened except the judge.” Hindocha said his wife had been undergoing treatment for cancer. “She is very, very upset. All this stress is not good for either of us. We have sleepless nights. We thought we would get closure. How can a person be accused of murder and not even take the stand? We don’t understand it.” Hindocha said he was meeting family attorneys in the UK to discuss further legal action, and that since the outcome of the case, neither Shrien nor his family had made any contact with them. “He (Shrien) hasn’t reached out to the family – not at all. We haven’t even made eye contact during the court proceedings.” Hindocha said his family would never be the same again. “People in our town are shocked with the outcome. They ask us about it all the time and cannot believe it.” Xolile Mngeni, convicted of the murder, died on October 18 from a brain tumour. His co-accused, taxi driver Zola Tongo, is currently serving 18 years, and the triggerman, Mziwamadoda Qwabe, is serving 25 years. Western Cape NPA spokesman, Eric Ntabazalila, said the State would not be lodging an appeal. POST contacted Shrien’s brother, Preyen Dewani, who declined to comment, saying they were not speaking to the media.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 07:16:09 +0000
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