Thaindian News

London, Aug 10 (IANS) Shrien Dewani, the husband of Indian-origin woman Anni Dewani, who was murdered while on their honeymoon in Cape Town, will be extradited to South Africa to stand trial, a British court has ruled.

Anni, 28, an engineer from Sweden, and 31-year-old Shrien were ambushed by two armed men in their taxi during their honeymoon in November last year. Dewani was forced out of the car unharmed but his wife was found shot dead the following day.

South African police believe Dewani paid the taxi driver to have Anni killed and make it look like a carjacking.

Dewani, a businessman from Bristol who is undergoing psychiatric treatment at a mental health hospital, has argued he was mentally unfit to stand trial.

Hugo Keith, representing the South African authorities, said there was a chance Dewani’s condition would improve and his illness should not prevent his extradition in any case, the daily Telegraph reported.

District Judge Howard Riddle of the Belmarsh magistrate’s court announced Tuesday that he will sanction Dewani’s extradition.

Dewani’s lawyers claim that if jailed, he would face inhumane conditions in South Africa’s overcrowded jails.

The South African government has also assured that Dewani would only be held in healthy prisons. It also guaranteed a single cell with a lavatory and hot and cold running water.

Zola Tongo, the taxi driver, has been sentenced to jail for 18 years after he confessed taking part in the murder of Anni. He named Dewani as the mastermind.