Cape Town - The devastated father of slain honeymoon bride Anni Dewani has revealed he is a broken man since his daughter’s brutal murder.
Vinod Hindocha gave the most harrowing account yet of the effect Anni’s death has had on his family in an emotional Victim Impact Statement to the Western Cape High Court.
In the three-page statement Vinod told how:
* He has not been able to return to work since Anni’s murder on November 13, 2010;
* He and his wife wake up crying every night thinking of their murdered daughter;
* Anni’s siblings Anish and Ami have never been the same since Anni’s death;
* His family will never rest until they find out why Anni was murdered.
Vinod said he spends every waking moment of his life thinking about his dead daughter.
He said this has affected his work and he was forced to quit his job because he was not able to concentrate on what he was doing.
“Since Anni’s death, I have not been able to go back to work,” he said.
“I have not worked for more than two years now. It has been impossible for me to concentrate and with my profession – electrical maintenance engineering – I need to have full concentration when I work.”
Anni was killed two weeks after marrying Shrien Dewani in a lavish wedding in India.
The last memories her family have of her is from her wedding ceremony.
As a result, her parents cannot bring themselves to attend weddings any longer.
“Attending weddings is one of the hardest things there is for us. We are so reminded of Anni [at] weddings that sometimes we just have to leave the room,” he said.
Vinod said that he sees a psychiatrist every two weeks as he struggles to get his life back on track, but it has been a long and hard journey for him.
“The nights have been really hard. My wife and I both struggle to sleep [and for the past year-and-a-half] we woke up in the middle of the night or early morning at 3am to 4am and start talking to each other about Anni,” said Vinod.
“We cried and it was just impossible to comfort each other since both of us share the same pain.”
Vinod said the joy has left his family, and his son Anish and eldest daughter Ami have been left devastated.
“I am myself in an emotional state and have not been able to be there for them,” he said.
He spends hours trawling the internet for any stories written about Anni and keeps a close eye on twitter and Facebook for any news.
“Questions like why Anni? She was such a wonderful girl, why did this happen to her?” he asked.
“None of us can grieve properly until we find this answer.
“I know that I will never get my daughter back but what I seek so desperately is justice for my precious Anni.
“I need to know what happened to her and I need to know why.
“Until then, until I know the whole truth and all answers from all [suspects] involved in this case, this is just a long psychological torture for me and my wife and we cannot and will not ever let it go.”
Convicted hitman Xolile Mngeni will be sentenced on Wednesday, December 5, after his sentencing was postponed again on Monday.
The court on Monday heard he has a rare cancer and has a one-in-five chance of living five years.
Mngeni was found guilty of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and the illegal possession of a gun and ammunition related to Anni’s brutal murder on November 13, 2010.
Cops claim Anni’s husband, Shrien Dewani, masterminded the murder in a fake hijacking after arriving in Cape Town on honeymoon.
His extradition has been postponed until he recovers from depression and post-traumatic stress.
* This article was published in the Daily Voice