Family of murder accused deny rift

THE family of a wealthy British businessman accused of ordering the killing of his new wife have insisted they had "good relations" with the bride's family.

Shrien Dewani, 30, is accused of hiring a hitman to murder Anni, 28, on their South African honeymoon.

The young woman was found dead in the back of an abandoned taxi with a bullet wound to her neck last month. Starting the fightback against the slurs levelled at Dewani, a close family member yesterday said he was speaking out to set the record straight.

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He dismissed insinuations of a rift between Anni's relatives and his own family, saying: "Everyone in both families is stressed out by these spurious allegations and wants justice. There are good relations between the families."

Dewani, the family member said, is torn apart after losing "the woman of his dreams".

The family spokesman said: "He's distraught and devastated, he's lost weight and is completely shaken.

"He's completely traumatised, he can't sleep, he can't eat, he keeps getting flashbacks."

South African authorities want to extradite the Bristol care home owner, who was granted bail in the British courts earlier this month.

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