Shrien Dewani, an Indian-origin British businessman accused of plotting the murder of his Indo-Swedish wife on their honeymoon in Cape Town, will be extradited to South Africa on April 7, according to a media report on Sunday.
Mr. Dewani, 33, from Bristol, is expected to leave London and arrive in Cape Town on 8 April 8. He has been fighting a return to South Africa to face the charges, which he denies, over the death of his wife Anni, 28, in November 2010.
The extradition date was confirmed by South Africa’s Department for Justice, the BBC reported. Mr. Dewani had lost his final appeal against extradition at the start of March which triggered a 28-day period during which he must be extradited.
Though, his legal team wanted the appeal to be heard in the the Supreme Court, it was refused by a panel of judges.
The businessman is being compulsorily detained under the Mental Health Act after being diagnosed as suffering from severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
In January, the High Court ruled it would not be “unjust and oppressive” to extradite Mr. Dewani providing that assurances were received from South Africa about the length of time he would be kept in the country without trial. Those assurances have been given, the report said.
Prosecutors in South Africa allege Mr. Dewani ordered the killing of his wife, who was a Swedish national. The charge dates back to November 2010 when the pair were held at gunpoint while driving through Gugulethu, a township near Cape Town, in a taxi. Mr. Dewani escaped unharmed but his wife’s body was found the following day. Three men have been convicted in the case.
