Oscar Pistorius shown during a court appearance. – image – www.mirror.co.uk

News24 reported that Oscar Pistorius faces a schedule six offence. This comes after Magistrate Desmond Nair stated during the court session that he could not disregard the possibility of premeditation in the death of model Reeva Steenkamp. At the time of the proceedings in Pretoria, the Steenkamp family and few invited friends were attending the memorial service in Port Elizabeth.

Outside the court, the situation was fuelled with anger and tension as various women’s rights groups, including the ANC Women’s League, sang songs of protest against the abuse of women and children. There were also several incidents of trampling among reporters before the court session started. Reporters from all over the world came to Pretoria to catch a glimpse of the accused. The magistrate’s ruling that visual recordings are not allowed in the court is still in place.

Oscar’s lawyers must now present to the court the exceptional circumstances that make it necessary for him to be released on bail. The defence team intends to show the court that there are many other similar cases of mistaken identity where victims were shot through bathroom doors. As far as the defence is concerned, they “submit it’s not even murder”. This is what Barry Roux told Magistrate Desmond Nair.

Emotions ran high as expected and the hearing continued most of the day on Tuesday. Oscar Pistorius shocked South Africa and the rest of the world last week Thursday when he allegedly fatally shot his girlfriend of a few months at his home in a high-security estate in Pretoria. According to Times Live, Oscar will remain in police custody until the hearing resumes on Wednesday morning. His family was there to support him. Reeva Steenkamp’s family was noticeably absent as they attended the cremation of the late beauty.