The 27-year-old amputee sprinter, who became the first to compete in the Paralympic as well as the Olympics Games, is expected to remain only 10 months in jail and could be released after he has served a sixth of the sentence, legal experts said.
Pistorius was transferred to jail in a police van two hours after judge Thokozile Masipa delivered a verdict in the High Court in Pretoria, Efe news agency reported.
Due to his disability, Pistorius would occupy a single cell in the hospital section of the prison, Director of South Africa’s National Prison Authority, Zach Modise, said.
Judge Masipa said the athlete, who had his legs amputated when he was 11 months old due to a genetic problem, would get proper care in jail, and rejected a request by his defence for a three-year house arrest and community work.
Prosecutors had asked for a 10-year jail sentence.
Pistorius killed Steenkamp on Feb 14, 2013, when he shot her through a closed bathroom door in their Pretoria residence and later alleged he thought there was an intruder in the house.
Pistorius made world headlines in the 2012 London Olympics, when he became the first sprinter in history with synthetic limbs to take part in the Olympic Games.
He stopped competing after the crime and has lost all his sponsors.
Source: The Shillong Times
Post a Comment