Anni Dewani Wiki, Age, Death, Husband, Family, Biography & More

Anni Dewani was an Indian origin – Swedish born engineer who was murdered merely after two weeks of her marriage on her honeymoon. She was married to Shrien Dewani,’ who is a British millionaire, on 29 October 2010. Their taxi was hijacked by two robbers on their honeymoon in Sout Africa that later resulted in the killing of Anni on 13 November 2010.

Wiki/Biography

Anni Ninna Hindocha was born on Friday, 12 March 1982 (age 28 years; at the time of death) in Mariestad, Sweden. After marriage, she changed her full name to Anni Ninna Dewani. Her zodiac sign was Pisces. She was working as a product designer in a company in Sweden.

Physical Appearance

Hair Colour: Brown

Eye Colour: Brown

Family

Parents & Siblings

Her father’s name is Vinod Hindocha, and her mother’s name is Nilam Hindocha. Her brother’s name is Anish Hindocha, and her sister’s name is Ami Denborg. Her uncle’s name is Ashok Hindocha.

Husband & Children

Anni Dewani got married to Shrien Dewani on 29 October 2010. He is a British millionaire who owns a nursing home

Relationship and Marriage with Shrien Dewani

Anni Dewani and Shrien Dewani were in a one-year relationship before getting married to each other. They met in 2009 through a mutual friend. Then, she was living in Sweden; however, moved to the United Kingdom in May 2010, and their engagement was announced in the same month. The couple got married on 29 October 2010 at Lake Powai near Mumbai in India. Soon after the marriage, they were also deciding to arrange a reception party in 2011 for those who missed their marriage ceremony.

Honeymoon

In November 2010, Anni Dewani and Shrien Dewani decided to stay for four nights at the Kruger National Park in South Africa, and thus, they landed at the Cape Town International Airport on 7 November 2010. The couple hired a taxi driver named Zola Tongo to the Cape Grace Hotel, South Africa.

Murder of Anni Dewani

The pair rented the taxi of Zola Tongo to visit and roam around the city till 13 November 2010. They visited the BBQ restaurant (Mzolis) at Gugulethu and went to a surfside restaurant and resort named Strand in Western Capetown. Soon after having their meal, they moved back to Gugulethu township. On the main road to the Gugulethu, the taxi of the pair was hijacked at gunpoint by the two gunmen. The taxi driver was ejected out of the taxi by the robbers after a short distance, and Shrien Dewani was also pushed out of the taxi after driving it for twenty minutes. The robbers took all the precious things and money from Shrien Dewani before ejecting him out of the taxi. The passerby helped Shrien to call the police and inform them about the hijacking and robbery. Anni Dewani’s body was found by the Western Cape police at Lingelethu West on 14 November 2010, a day after the hijacking, in the back seat of the same VW Sharan taxi in which the pair was travelling. The police gave the statement that all the precious things such as Giorgio Armani wristwatch, a white-gold and diamond bracelet, her handbag and her BlackBerry mobile telephone from Anni’s body were missing and reported it as the case of robbery.

Post Mortem

The post-mortem report of Anni Dewani stated that she died of a gunshot that was passed through her hand directly into her neck. The bruising on her leg revealed that she struggled before being shot; but, there were no signs of sexual assault. The Western Capetown police rendered the body of Anni Dewani to her family members as well as her husband on 17 November 2010. After six months of her death, the family members of Anni Dewani immersed her ashes at Vänern lake which was Anni’s favourite place near her residence at Mariestad in Sweden.

Disclosures by Friends and Media

It was revealed, in the media conferences, by the mutual friends of Anni Dewani and Shrien Dewani after the murder of Anni that the couple was often involved in fights and arguments. They were both wilful. It was also stated by one of the friends of Anni Dewani that Anni broke up the relationship in January 2010; but, repaired their differences soon. Reportedly, Shrien was suffering from low hormonal complications that affected his ability to have children; however, Anni wanted the children, and to fulfil her wish, Shrien was ready to go through the treatment. At the same time, it was in the news that Shrien was bisexual and had relations with the Birmingham gay prostitutes. The news was verified and confessed by Shrien Dewani himself during the court trials that he was gay.

Arrests and Court Trials

The Western Cape police arrested Xolile Mngeni on 16 November 2021 on the basis of telephone records, CCTV footage, and the handprints found on the taxi. Xolile Mngeni admitted that he hijacked the taxi with the aim of robbery along with Mziwamadoda Qwabe. Mngeni further confessed that Mziwamadoda Qwabe shot Anni Dewani in a struggle while snatching her handbag. Mngeni was also allowed to talk to the middle man named ‘Monde Mbolombo,’ who was arrested by the police on 18 November 2010.

Mziwamadoda Qwabe in his statement to the police said that the couple was the victim of the robbery. During further investigation, Qwabe changed his statement on the same day within five hours of his first statement that the husband Shrien Dewani was the planner of the murder of his wife. On 20 November 2021, the cabbie Zola Tongo also confessed that Shrien Dewani plotted the murder of his wife.

He also claimed that Shrien paid the gang £1,400 to kill his wife. The robber named Mziwamadoda Qwabe was awarded 25 years of punishment in prison under section 105A in February 2011.

The second robber Xolile Mngeni was also given life imprisonment, but during the court sessions, he became the victim of a brain tumour and died of it in the Goodwood Centre of Excellence jail on 18 October 2014.

The cabbie ‘Zola Tongo’ was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment at Malmesbury. In 2014, Shrien Dewani was cleared from all the murder charges as he proved himself to be innocent and put the blame on the three main accused.

After the verdict, the family members of Anni Dewani stated in a media conference outside the court that the right to know the truth that ‘why Anni was killed’ was taken away from them after Shrien was acquitted by the court. They said,

We came here looking for answers and the truth and all we got was more questions. We waited patiently for four years to hear what really happened to Anni… All we wanted was to hear all the events and the hope of actually finding that out has kept us, as a family, going. Unfortunately we believe that right has now been taken away from us.”

Ami Denborg, Anni’s sister, with her brother and father, outside Western Cape High Court in 2014

Monde Mbolombo was not punished and was released after a warning under the provisions of Section 204 of the Criminal Procedure Act. The verdict was decided by the Director of Public Prosecutions on 19 November 2015 and was given indemnity in the murder of Anni Dewani.

Documentary

A documentary titled ‘Anni – The Honeymoon Murder’ was released on the Discovery channel on 16 November 2021.

The documentary was available to watch online on Amazon Prime Video and was telecasted on the Discovery Plus channel. It was released on the eleventh death anniversary of Anni Dewani. The story of the documentary was based on the events narrated by the so-called middleman ‘Monde Mbolombo’ to the documentary team. He cried while narrating the robbery to the team and said that he was not proud of what he did. He said,

Tongo came to me and he said “do I know any hitman?.” I was shocked.’ the husband, wants the wife to be killed.”

Monde Mbolombo said that Tongo replied,

So this guy wants his wife to be murdered and it must look like it’s a hijacking.”

He added,

I’m not proud of what I did.”

Monde Mbolombo while speaking to the Discovery Plus channel

Death

Anni Dewani’s body was found on 14 November 2010 at Gugulethu in South Africa in the back seat of the taxi in which Anni Dewani was travelling. The investigation of the case was done by the Western Cape police who stated that the driver of the taxi was thrown out of the car before the two robbers took off the taxi with the couple inside.

Facts/Trivia

• Her full name was Anni Ninna Hindocha.

• The great-grandfathers of Anni Hindocha moved to Sweden at the beginning of the 1970s from Uganda as the Asians who were living there were expelled by the president of Uganda. The family of Anni Hindocha got a shelter in Sweden and started living in Mariestad, Sweden where Anni was born and raised.

  A childhood picture of Anni Dewani

• Anni’s father ‘Vinod Hindocha’ released a book titled ‘Anni Dewani: A Father’s Tale’ in 2014. Soon after announcing the publishing of the book, he stated in a media conference that her daughter was a very happy personality who was full of life and energy. He further added that Anni’s husband was the main accused who was walking free, and the verdicts were turned against them in the court cases. He stated,
  

  She was full of life and energy. It was meant to be one of the most happiest moments of her life. We had to deal with her death and the fact that her husband was the main accused in the case. The verdict and the court case went against us and it is sad that Shireen walked free. As a family, we are still dealing with the ramifications of the case.”

  The coverpage of the book written by Anni’s father

• Anni Dewani’s father had a terrible accident on 11 March 2015 in which he severed his arm when he was servicing a lift.

• Ashok Hindocha, uncle of Anni Dewani, once in a conversation with the media houses outside the South Africa court stated that Anni was a very happy person who always used to laugh at small things. He further added that it was a mystery to their entire family that why Anni was killed after a few days of her marriage. He said,
  

  She was very bubbly, very joyful. A very happy person. Always laughing, always making jokes, making everybody happy wherever she went. Still, today, we don’t know exactly what happened. But the question still bothered me, why kill Anni? That brings a lot of uncertainty. Guessing what happened and knowing what happened are two different things. We want to know what happened.”