Johannesburg: Shortly after being extradited from the UK in connection with the killing of his wife during their honeymoon, Indian-origin businessman Shrien Dewani was today produced before a South African court and charged with her murder.

After being flown by a chartered flight to Cape Town, Dewani, 34, was escorted straight away to the Western Cape High Court, where he was formally charged with the murder of his Indo-Swedish wife Anni in 2010 during their honeymoon. 

According to Mthunzi Mhaga, spokesperson of the Department of Justice, Dewani has been charged with murder and will also face charges relating to conspiracy to commit the murder and defeating the ends of justice.

Mhaga said the private aircraft was used to transport Dewani due to his peculiar medical condition, which needs to be monitored as travelling on a commercial flight could have compromised his security and adversely affected his pending medical examination, state-run news portal sanews.gov.za reported.