Honeymoon murder suspect flown back to South Africa

Reuters
Businessman Shrien Dewani is led into a prison van at Westminster Magistrates Court in central London December 8, 2010. REUTERS/Andrew Winning

LONDON (Reuters) - The businessman accused of arranging for his new bride to be murdered during their honeymoon in Cape Town was flown back to South Africa on Monday night after more than three years of trying to avoid extradition on mental health grounds. Shrien Dewani, 34, left Britain at around 0800 p.m. BST after having been met at Bristol airport by representatives of the South African authorities who accompanied him on the flight, London's Metropolitan police said in a statement. Dewani was expected to make a brief court appearance on arrival on Tuesday morning before being transferred to hospital for more psychiatric tests, British media reports said. Dewani is accused of conspiring to kill his wife, Anni, 28, a Swedish national, who was shot in November 2010 when the taxi the couple were travelling in was hijacked in the Gugulethu township on the outskirts of Cape Town. He denies any wrongdoing. In January, Britain's High Court ruled that it would not be oppressive or unjust to send back millionaire Dewani - who is being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder - so long as the South African government agreed to let him return to Britain if he were found to be unfit to be tried. Speaking at the time, the dead woman's cousin Amit Karia welcomed the verdict. "It's a step closer to finally getting justice for our Anni," he told reporters. Anni Dewani was found dead in the back of the abandoned cab with a bullet wound to her neck after cabbie Zola Tongo drove the newlyweds to the township. Shrien Dewani claims the vehicle was carjacked and that he and Tongo were forced out of the car unharmed before Mrs Dewani was driven away and killed. However, Tongo turned state witness and, in return for a reduced sentence, alleged that Dewani paid 15,000 rand (903 pounds) for his wife to be killed. He was jailed for 18 years and an accomplice, Mziwamadoda Qwabe, also pleaded guilty to murder and was handed a 25-year prison sentence. (Reporting by Stephen Addison; Editing by David Gregorio)