It has been revealed former sprinter Oscar Pistorius, jailed for 13 years and five months in 2015 for the shooting death of this then-girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, has been conducting Bible study and prayer groups in prison.
The former Paralympian, nicknamed 'Blade Runner' in his running days, heads the groups once or twice a week, and it is reported he has even welcomed the prison's most feared gangster to worship alongside him.
“Oscar leads the studies and is able to accommodate those who aren’t so familiar with the Bible to explain the meaning of all the verses," Pistorius' father Henke, who said his son has “always been a true child of God”, told The Times.
Also on rt.com Paralympic gold medalist Oscar Pistorius' prison sentence extended to 13 years“He (Oscar) can feel he is making a difference to others who really needed a difference to be made – to give their lives meaning, purpose and some hope. As a result, things have also improved for him.”
South African Pistorius was imprisoned for the murder of Steenkamp, 29, who was found shot dead on Valentine's Day 2013 after being riddled with bullets when Pistorius emptied his 9mm pistol through a locked toilet door, with Steenkamp on the other side.
He was first convicted of culpable homicide, although the Supreme Court of Appeal overturned that decision and convicted him of murder. His July 2015 sentence of six years imprisonment was extended to 13 years and five months on appeal by the state.
It has been reported that the 32-year-old has been given a vegetable garden in which to relax and grow greens. Pistorius has at least five more years to serve of his incarceration term, and will be eligible for parole in 2023.