Dewani ‘ate while everyone grieved’

Sneha Mashru, Anni Hindocha's cousin, said she "knew everything" about Anni. File photo: Nic Bothma

Sneha Mashru, Anni Hindocha's cousin, said she "knew everything" about Anni. File photo: Nic Bothma

Published Oct 21, 2014

Share

Cape Town - She can still remember the sound when he dropped her lifeless hand. Describing the smack as it hit the table where they were dressing her body, Sneha Mashru’s voice cracked. Anni Hindocha’s cousin stood in the stand – the spitting image of the murdered bride – battling with her emotions as she testified in court on Monday on the sixth day of Shrien Dewani’s murder trial.

She told the court that the UK businessman did not act like a “grieving husband” in the days following his wife’s death. Instead, he was cold, uncaring and quickly frustrated. He ate normally while everyone mourned. He planned her funeral on sprawling spreadsheets, tweaking tiny details, while everyone was still in shock.

“I had to force myself to (eat) just to get some kind of energy,” said Mashru. “I did not see in him what I saw in (Anni’s father), I did not see that in Dewani.”

Dewani watched from the dock. As Mashru spoke, he wrote, his head bobbing in rhythm with the flow of her testimony, delivered slowly with a Swedish accent.

The UK businessman stands accused of orchestrating his wife’s death while the pair were honeymooning in Cape Town. It is the State’s case that he paid his taxi driver, Zola Tongo, to stage the hijacking in which Hindocha was killed.

One of the gunmen, Xolile Mngeni – who was serving a life sentence – died this weekend after years of suffering from a brain tumour. However, he was not set to testify during the case and the State has already dismissed claims that his death would have any bearing on proceedings.

Mashru described herself as Hindocha’s confidant and closest friend. She said they were like sisters.

“I knew everything about her.”

The announcement of the couple’s engagement in May 2010, just a few months after they had broken up, came as a “total shock to their side of the family”, she told the court. The cousin said they had ended their relationship in December.

Hindocha had her doubts over marrying Dewani, said Mashru, and the pair exchanged e-mails outlining their concerns.

“When he promised to change his ways, she agreed to marry him.”

But there was more drama as the pair neared the wedding date in Mumbai in October. Hindocha complained that her future husband was too controlling. She almost walked away – throwing her ring at him during a volatile argument, said Mashru.

Even after the wedding the arguments continued. Text messages sent between Hindocha and her cousin after she arrived in South Africa were read out in court.

In one message Anni wrote: “What should I do? I am really trying.”

“She was thinking of getting a divorce,” Mashru told the court, an admission that was disallowed by Judge Jeanette Traverso as being hearsay.

In contrast, the last text Hindocha sent to her cousin was upbeat and promising; it seemed her advice had helped.

“Hi, it’s much better now. Going better than before. Hate the word divorce.”

Then she found out that her cousin’s body had been found in the back of a VW Sharan. Mashru said she spoke to Dewani over the phone to find out what had happened. He described the hijacking and then added a detail that was not in his plea explanation.

“He said, ‘Do not ever repeat this to anyone else… They shot her because she was screaming.’”

She believed his story. She was not suspicious, at least not yet. But when Dewani returned to the UK and she visited him at his Bristol home expecting to find a mourning husband, he was cold, more focused on visiting the tailor to buy new suits and planning the funeral on an Excel spreadsheet, she said. “He did not seem like a grieving husband.”

She left early the following morning. On the day of Hindocha’s funeral, she went to help dress Hindocha’s body. Dewani was with her, and so was his family. While she applied make-up to her cousin’s face, she said, Dewani tried to “squeeze” a bracelet over the dead bride’s swollen wrists.

“I said, ‘Stop, you are hurting her.’ He dropped her hand on the table. I can still hear the thud when he dropped her,” said Mashru, her voice cracking. “There was no love in the way he looked at her.”

She started to analyse his story of the hijacking, and things weren’t adding up.

In court, Mashru said there was something off about Dewani’s version of events.

“Are you still suspicious of Mr Dewani?” asked the murder accused’s senior counsel, Francois van Zyl.

Mashru took a moment to choose her words: “Yes, yes, obviously I still am.”

Court was adjourned at 4pm on Monday. Mashru is set to face further questioning as she undergoes the rest of her cross-examination on Tuesday.

[email protected]

Cape Argus

Related Topics: