South African Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has been released from prison on parole after serving almost 11 years for the shooting death of his girlfriend, Steenkamp. Pistorius is a double amputee.
New Delhi: Oscar Pistorius, South African Olympic athlete with a prosthetic leg, claims to have shot his girlfriend in the bathroom after hearing an intruder in the early hours of the morning. Pistorius says he woke up at around 1:00 a.m. and grabbed a 9mm pistol he kept under his bed. He says he put on the prosthetic legs, walked into the bathroom and fired four shots, but his girlfriend Reeva STEENKAMP, who is also a double amputee, was in the bathroom.
It wasn’t until he called out for Steenkamp, who he thought was in bed next to him, that he realised he had made a terrible mistake. Pistorius says he smashed the locked bathroom door with a cricket bat and then carried Steenkamp down the stairs in an effort to help her, but Steenkamp passed away in his arms despite his best efforts.
“I shot her because I thought she was in danger,” Pistorius told the court in his defence of killing Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013.
At the same time, prosecutors dispute Pistorius’s version of events, claiming that the former Olympic gold medallist put on the prosthetic legs on purpose, went to the bathroom where he and Steenkamp were locked in a heated confrontation, and fired four times at Steenkamp. Three of those shots hit Steenkamp in the head, killing her.
The 37-year-old Pistorius, who was convicted of Steenkamp’s murder in 2015, has been serving a minimum sentence of eight-and-a-half years in prison, plus seven months under house arrest. He was released on parole earlier this month.
Reeva’s mother, June Steenkamp, said in a statement released by Steenkamp’s family lawyer on Friday that “no justice can be served if your loved one will never return home. No amount of time will ever bring Reeva back.”
It is we who are behind bars, serving life sentences, said Steenkamp, who added that her only wish after Pistorius’s release on parole is to be able to live in freedom.
Oscar Pistorius, known around the world as “Blade Runner” due to his carbon fibre prosthetics, will be barred from addressing the media as part of his parole.
