Shrien Dewani, the 33-year-old UK citizen of Indian-origin, who was accused of murdering his wife Anni Dewani on their honeymoon in Cape Town in 2010, has lost his legal battle in the High Court against his extradition to South Africa.
His extradition must take place within 28 days.
A panel of three judges, headed by Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas, turned down the request of Dewani’s legal team that the case be heard in the Supreme Court as it raised issues of general public importance.
Dewani has been compulsorily detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act, where he is being treated for severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. His counsel Mark Summers told the High Court that his “underlying medical condition may be chronic - incapable of being treated".
The judges however rejected the argument of Dewani’s lawyers that the South African authorities would not give their client the necessary care.
Shrien and his wife Anni were held up at gunpoint in a car they had hired on the night of November 13, 2010 in Cape Town where they were honeymooning. Anni was found dead the next morning in the back seat of the car with a gunshot wound to her neck. Shrein Dewani claimed having been pushed out of the car by the gunmen before they kidnapped Anni. The men involved in the killing said that Dewani had promised them 15,000 rand to have Anni killed.
