Anni's family look to court for last piece in sad puzzle

For the family of honeymoon murder victim Anni Dewani, the news from Cape Town on Friday was what they had been waiting to hear for almost four years.

The High Court in Cape Town ruled that Anni's husband, Shrien Dewani, was fit to stand trial. Dewani had been fighting an extended battle, at home in Britain and in South Africa, to avoid a murder charge.

"It's good news for us. We have been waiting for this for almost four years now and it's time we get some answers," said Anni's father, Vinod Hindocha.

Speaking from Sweden, Hindocha said the missing piece of the puzzle in the murder will now fall into place. He said the family would attend the trial, which starts on October 6 and is to run through December.

A psychiatric report tabled in court on Friday finally paved the way for Dewani to stand trial.

It was compiled by five psychiatrists who monitored the murder accused for a month at the Valkenberg mental health facility in Observatory, Cape Town, and described Dewani as a "perfectionist" and highly intelligent.

Dewani is also described as "affable" and "articulate". The report says he suffers from severe flashbacks and nightmares, which began a week after Anni's murder. It reveals that this was not the first time he had run into problems in Africa. He had to abandon a job as an English teacher in Ghana after contracting malaria.

The court referred Dewani for observation in June after the prosecution received contradictory reports from two mental health specialists, one for the prosecution and the other for the defence. Friday's court appearance was Dewani's fourth since his extradition from the UK in April.

Unlike his previous court appearances, when he appeared jumpy and weary with greying hair and was easily distracted by even a slight cough in the public gallery, Dewani was calm in the dock on Friday.

Wearing a neat black suit, he looked directly at Judge John Hlophe throughout. He often strained to follow the proceedings and nodded only when spoken to. For the first time, he gave a verbal response instead of the usual nod.

"Thank you, my lord," he said after Hlophe's postponement.

His family, including his father and mother, filed out of the court as a large police contingent escorted him down to the court's holding cells.

Hlophe warned hordes of local and international journalists who attended not to take pictures of Dewani in court.