Prayers for Pistorius
One by one, relatives of Oscar Pistorius headed to the dock where they prayed for the murder-accused star as he showed distress during Monday's proceedings in the High Court in Pretoria.
Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius reacts in the dock during his trial for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, Monday, 10 March 2014. Pistorius is on trial for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at his suburban Pretoria home on Valentine’s Day last year. He says he mistook her for an intruder. Picture:Siphiwe Sibeko/Pool
During an adjournment his family huddled around him, holding his hand, and hugging him.
Pistorius broke down and buried his head in his hands as the court was told that the evidence of a witness, professor Gert Saayman, would be too graphic to publicise.
The State requested that an order be granted for the audio of the proceedings to not be broadcast on radio or television.
Saayman was to testify on the autopsy that was conducted on Reeva Steenkamp, Pistorius’s girlfriend.
He shot her dead through a locked bathroom door at his Pretoria home. He said he had mistaken her for an intruder.
Pistorius’s ex-girlfriend, Samantha Taylor, and her mother, Patricia Ann Taylor, stared at him as he cried in the dock.
Taylor testified in the trial last week. She alleged that Pistorius had fired a gun in her presence before.
The 20-year-old who started dating Pistorius three years ago said they broke up after Pistorius cheated on her with Steenkamp.
Patricia Ann Taylor was also expected to testify in the trial.
Women dressed in ANC Women’s League regalia were also in court on Monday.
Some of them sat in the bench reserved for the Steenkamp family.
Spokeswoman for the League, Jacqui Mofokeng, handed out stickers bearing an image of Steenkamp.
Last week, Gauteng premier Nomvula Mokonyane called for support for the grieving Steenkamp family.
Also in the front of the court were friends of Steenkamp. They too wore the stickers on their clothes.
The President of Crime Stoppers International, Alex McDonald, and his second vice-president, Yusuf Abramjee, also attended the proceedings.
While the court had earlier appeared less filled, it was almost packed to capacity by the adjournment.
– Sapa
