Pistorius To Remain In Jail, New Murder Trial On Nov 3

Paralympic runner Oscar Pistorius has been refused early release from a prison sentence for killing his girlfriend.

A parole review board in Johannesburg met on Monday to discuss whether the athlete could be allowed to exit jail and serve his sentence under a house arrest.

The board, however, set aside the decision to grant parole to Pistorius and referred his case back to the parole board. No timeline has been set for when a review decision would be announced.

In a court case that has gripped worldwide attention, Pistorius was said to have accidentally gunned down his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013, after mistaking her for an intruder in his Johannesburg home.

Pistorius fired four shots at the toilet door of his home during the incident, three of them catching Steenkamp in the head, arm and hip before she succumbed to her injuries on the spot.

Pistorius has already served one-sixth or ten months of his five-year sentence, the necessary pre-requisite to get parole. Last year in November, the runner had been sentenced to five years in jail for culpable homicide – South African equivalent of unpremeditated murder.

State prosecutors, however, have already challenged that ruling by Judge Thokozile Masipa and an appeal for murder conviction is likely to be heard in the Supreme Court of South Africa on November 3.

Meanwhile, Pistorius’ defense lawyer Barry Roux has told media that the athlete is no longer in a position to afford him for another lengthy trial.

If Pistorius is convicted for premeditated murder in a fresh hearing, he could be sentenced to jail for up to a further 20 years.

Image Courtesy: AFP

The South African superstar has already lost all his lucrative sponsorship deals since the night of the shooting, which is fresh in his memories and continues to haunt him to date.

Pistorius has also time and again mentioned how the smell of blood and the screams of his girlfriend from inside the toilet door, when he shot at it, are still fresh in his memory and how it makes him vomit every time he thinks of it. He is now under psychological treatment as a result of it.

Before the incident, people in South Africa had for long idolized the blade runner, who has won several medals at the international stage and even competed alongside able-bodied athletes at the 2012 London Olympics.

People in South Africa and all around the world have debated for months about the events of that fateful night, when Pistorius lost the woman he so dearly loved.

Reeva’s parents and family have so far opposed Pistorius’ early release, adamant on their stance that the athlete did actually kill their daughter intentionally.

Was Reeva’s death an accident or a premeditated murder? These are questions still waiting to be answered as the mystery remains unsolved.