File photo: Shrien Dewani(AFP)
Cape Town:
Claims that a gay man desperate to escape an arranged marriage hired hitmen to kill his bride on their Cape Town honeymoon are expected to be heard as a British millionaire goes on trial for murder on Monday.
Businessman Shrien Dewani finally appeared in court after losing a three-year extradition fight in Britain and was ruled mentally fit to stand trial.
He was sent back to South Africa in April to answer charges over the murder of his bride Anni (nee Hindocha), who was shot dead on November 13, 2010, aged 28.
Both Mr Dewani and Anni are of Indian origin, from what news reports have described as devout Hindu families.
Mr Dewani, now 34, is accused of orchestrating the hit by hiring three South Africans to kill her.
He denies the charge and claims that he and his bride were hijacked at gunpoint as they drove through Cape Town's impoverished Gugulethu township in a taxi.
Mr Dewani escaped unharmed, but his wife's body was found in the abandoned car the next day.
The prosecution is expected to argue that Mr Dewani is gay and plotted to have his wife killed to escape an arranged marriage that he was pushed into by his family.
Local media have reported that one of the main witnesses for the prosecution will be a sado-masochism "master" from Britain who will claim that Mr Dewani paid him for sex.
Gay prostitute Leopold Leisser is said to have claimed in a statement to British police that Mr Dewani had told him he was getting married to a "lovely girl", but he needed "to find a way out of it".
The three South Africans have been tried and convicted and are serving jail sentences of between 18 years and life for their role in Anni Dewani's death.
Taxi driver Zola Tongo admitted guilt in a plea bargain along with another man, Mziwamadoda Qwabe.
Mr Tongo's claim that Shrien Dewani had offered him 15,000 rand ($1,300, 1,000 euros) to have Anni killed is expected to play a key role in the prosecution's arguments.
"All I ask for is the full story and justice," Anni's father Vinod Hindocha told reporters in Cape Town on Sunday.
The trial is set to run into December.
Businessman Shrien Dewani finally appeared in court after losing a three-year extradition fight in Britain and was ruled mentally fit to stand trial.
He was sent back to South Africa in April to answer charges over the murder of his bride Anni (nee Hindocha), who was shot dead on November 13, 2010, aged 28.
Both Mr Dewani and Anni are of Indian origin, from what news reports have described as devout Hindu families.
Mr Dewani, now 34, is accused of orchestrating the hit by hiring three South Africans to kill her.
He denies the charge and claims that he and his bride were hijacked at gunpoint as they drove through Cape Town's impoverished Gugulethu township in a taxi.
Mr Dewani escaped unharmed, but his wife's body was found in the abandoned car the next day.
The prosecution is expected to argue that Mr Dewani is gay and plotted to have his wife killed to escape an arranged marriage that he was pushed into by his family.
Local media have reported that one of the main witnesses for the prosecution will be a sado-masochism "master" from Britain who will claim that Mr Dewani paid him for sex.
Gay prostitute Leopold Leisser is said to have claimed in a statement to British police that Mr Dewani had told him he was getting married to a "lovely girl", but he needed "to find a way out of it".
The three South Africans have been tried and convicted and are serving jail sentences of between 18 years and life for their role in Anni Dewani's death.
Taxi driver Zola Tongo admitted guilt in a plea bargain along with another man, Mziwamadoda Qwabe.
Mr Tongo's claim that Shrien Dewani had offered him 15,000 rand ($1,300, 1,000 euros) to have Anni killed is expected to play a key role in the prosecution's arguments.
"All I ask for is the full story and justice," Anni's father Vinod Hindocha told reporters in Cape Town on Sunday.
The trial is set to run into December.
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