I didn't see the love, says Anni’s cousin

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 20, 2014

Share

Cape Town - Honeymoon murder accused Shrien Dewani behaved suspiciously and “not like a grieving husband” in the days after his wife, Anni Hindocha, had been killed, the Western Cape High Court heard.

Sneha Mashru, Anni's cousin and confidante, told the court on Monday that she found his behaviour so suspicious that she went to see the police to find out whether he had anything to do with her cousin's killing.

“I didn't see the love. The love that I was looking for, I didn't see it,” she said.

She was testifying in Dewani's trial in which he stands accused of paying to have Anni murdered and instructing her killers to make it look like a hijacking.

Mashru told the court that, when the family went to view Anni's body at the funeral parlour, he tried to force bangles onto her stiff arm.

The family requested that he stop which prompted him to drop her arm instead of putting it down gently, she said.

In addition, Mashru told the court that she was so uncomfortable in the Dewani family home in Bristol, that she left.

Dewani, she added, wanted to have his suits tailored and go for a massage.

“Why do you care about your outer appearance in these circumstances,” she said she had thought at the time.

Mashru also told the court that Dewani planned Anni's funeral on a spreadsheet and wanted to control “everything”.

She told the court that Dewani's brother and sister changed the password to Anni's Facebook and Hotmail accounts after the murder and that, to this day, she does not know what the passwords are.

Earlier Mashru, formerly Hindocha, described the relationship she had with her cousin to prosecutor Shareen Riley.

“Anni and I, my lady, were more like sisters. Anni confided in me and told me things she would not tell her sister or brother. We told each other everything and anything. I knew everything about Anni. We knew we could always trust each other, my lady,” she said.

The two used to speak on the phone or via text messages and e-mails. They grew up in Sweden together, went to the same high school and were a year apart in age.

They graduated together and moved back to their hometown Mariestad. Anni got a job in Stockholm and Mashru remained in their hometown, but often stayed with her in Stockholm.

Mashru moved to the United Kingdom for work in February 2010 and Anni joined her a month later.

She said they always wanted to move to England and Anni wanted to get to know her boyfriend better.

Mashru said Shrien and Anni had a long-distance relationship between May 2009 and March 2010 and used to see each other about once a month.

She met Shrien after the couple's third date.

“I thought at the time that Shrien was a nice guy. Shrien and I used to have contact if there was anything to do with Anni. We had a relationship where he was dating my cousin. I only e-mailed him when we were discussing wedding things and he wanted my opinion.”

Shrien sometimes texted her.

She said the couple broke up once in December 2009, after his second visit to Sweden.

Prosecutor Riley asked why they broke up.

At this point, Dewani's lawyer Francois van Zyl said the evidence was moving into hearsay territory and he objected.

Deputy Judge President Jeannette Traverso agreed the evidence was hearsay and asked Riley to motivate why it should be introduced.

Riley said the evidence was about Sneha's conclusion of the couple's relationship and formed a key part of their case.

Traverso said the court must guard against allowing hearsay evidence and disallowed it.

Mashru said the couple contacted each other again around December 29 or 30, 2009. Anni called him for his birthday and the relationship resumed.

IOL and Sapa

Related Topics: