DEWANI TELLS COURT HE’S BISEXUAL

British murder accused Shrien Dewani has confirmed that he is bisexual and has admitted that he had sex with a male prostitute.

Dewani is on trial in the Western Cape High Court for the murder of his wife Anni.

He’s accused of paying men to pretend to carjack the couple and then kill the 28-year-old woman in Cape Town in 2010.

The startling revelation about his sexuality, in a statement read out by his lawyer at the opening of the trial on Monday, appears to be a bid to defuse what is expected to be the state’s claim that Dewani is gay and wanted to get out of his marriage at any cost.

“I’ve had sexual interaction with both males and females,” said Dewani in the statement, adding that he considers himself “to be bisexual.”

He explained that, “My sexual interactions with males were mostly physical experiences or e-mail chats with people I met online or in clubs.”

Dewani nevertheless insisted that he loved Anni, was physically attracted to her and did indeed want to marry her. He has denied all the charges against him.

There’s been much speculation that the state plans to call a London-based German leather and S&M rent boy, Leopold Leisser, allegedly hired by Dewani, as a witness in the trial.

On the weekend, the Saturday Star revealed details of Leisser’s claims about his relationship with Dewani.

He says that Dewani, who used the name “asiansubguy”, paid up to £400 (R7 258) per session for three drug-fuelled sex sessions; the last just months before his marriage to Anni.

Leisser, who works under the name The German Master, said that he once allowed Dewani to sleep over because “he was very friendly and I liked him… He was very charming and quite educated.”

Most damming is Leisser’s claim that Dewani told him that he could not get out of the engagement with Anni “because he would be disowned by the family.”

He also allegedly told Leisser “that he needs to find a way out of it.”

According to Leisser, he continued to communicate with Dewani via text messages and through Gaydar for some time.

He contacted the police when he learned of Anni’s murder while watching television.