Anni Dewani’s father, Vinod Hindocha, has come face to face with his daughter’s killer in the hope of learning the truth behind her murder.
On Friday Vinod and his brother, Ashok, met Zola Tongo in his cell, where he is serving an 18-year sentence.
A source told the Mail Online that the Hindochas were meeting Tongo because they feel that he knows more about the murder and withheld details from prosecutors after he was given a lesser jail term in exchange for helping the police, reports the Saturday Star.
The meeting is part of a restorative justice meeting organised by the Department of Correctional Services, and comes a week before Tongo’s appeal for parole is heard.
He is eligible from September and Anni’s family are expected to submit an impact statement.
Anni was shot dead after she and her husband, Shrien, were hijacked by Tongo and two gunmen while they were making a detour through Gugulethu in 2010.
VICTIM: Murdered Anni Dewani. Photo: SUPPLIED, MMM/AP
The newlyweds were honeymooning at the time.
Vinod would not discuss the meeting with Tongo, but said that he would not rest until he knew the full story.
He had vowed never to return to South Africa after Shrien was cleared of Anni’s murder in 2014.
Shrien was accused of hiring Tongo to recruit hitmen. Tongo met the couple when he picked them up from Cape Town airport in November 2010.
Shrien was caught on CCTV paying Tongo, but said it was cash owed for hiring the vehicle.
Tongo’s co-accused, Mziwamadoda Qwabe and Xolile Mngeni, were sentenced to life. Mngeni died in jail from a brain tumour.
Shrien claimed the men had tried to frame him.
Shrien has since been in a relationship with Brazilian-born photographer Gledison Lopez Martins.
Vinod has said that neither he nor his daughter knew about Shrien’s secret gay lifestyle.