Oscar Pistorius case put off by court on murder charge

Pretoria  : The Pretoria Magistrate’s Court Friday postponed the highly publicised case of Paralympian Oscar Pistorius until Feb 19.

Pistorius, arrested Thursday for allegedly killing his girlfriend at his Pretoria home, will be remanded in police custody until his next appearance.

He was charged with murdering Reeva Steenkamp, a model, in the early hours on the Valentine’s Day.

At his first court appearance, Pistorius started crying soon after he entered the court, wearing a dark suit, Xinhua news agency reported.

Magistrate Desmond Nair greeted him and asked him to be calm. Pistorius’s father Henke and sister Aimee were sitting in the front seats.

A large contingent of reporters gathered at the scene, but were told by the court that live coverage was not allowed.

The 26-year-old double-amputee Olympian is expected to apply for bail, but police have said the request would be opposed.

Pistorius reportedly told police he mistakenly took Steenkamp for a burglar and shot her. Hearing the gun shots, neighbours alerted police and when paramedics arrived at the scene, Steenkamp had died.

Several local media outlets had initially reported that the shooting may have been accidental.

But police refused to say what actually happened before the investigation was completed.

Police spokesperson Denise Beukes told reporters that there had been other incidents of domestic violence at his place.

“I confirm there had been previous incidents of a domestic nature at his place but this will form part of the investigation,” she said.

The Beeld newspaper said Steenkamp was shot through the bathroom door, and neighbours said her body was found in the bathroom.

Neighbours also said they heard strange noises in Pistorius’s home, indicating something was happening, before the gun shots were fired.

Steenkamp, 30, worked as a model and had been FHM’s cover girl. She twittered on Wednesday that she would give Pistorius a surprise at Valentine’s Day.

The pair had been together for just over two months and were a huge celebrity couple in South Africa.

Pistorius, who said he was traumatized by losing a person he was very close to, was fully cooperating with the investigation, police said.

The 26-year-old, who was born without a fibula in both legs, was the first double amputee to run in the Olympics.

Nicknamed the “Blade Runner”, Pistorius was able to compete by wearing carbon fibre prosthetic blades.

A national hero in South Africa, Pistorius ran in 11 races during the 2012 Games and the Paralympics. He returned home with two Paralympic gold medals, Paralympic silver, two world records, a Paralympic record, an Olympic individual semi-final and an Olympic final.

Pistorius was named by Time Magazine last year as one of the world’s 100 most influential people.