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Reeva Steenkamp ‘did not love Pistorius’

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Oscar Pistorius’ girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp did not love the South African Olympic athlete, her cousin Kim Martin has told a court.
The hearing is reconsidering Pistorius’ sentence after a court found him guilty of murdering Ms Steenkamp, overturning an earlier manslaughter verdict.

He faces a jail term of 15 years but it may be reduced due to time already spent in prison and mitigating factors.

Ms Martin said she did not believe the true version of events had come out.

“I never heard him apologise… I don’t feel the true version came out. We just wanted the truth,” she said.

Pistorius, 29, killed Ms Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013 after firing four times through a locked toilet door.

The athlete has always maintained he believed he was shooting at an intruder.

The six-time Paralympic gold medallist, whose legs were amputated below the knee as a baby, made history by becoming the first amputee sprinter to compete at the Olympics in 2012, running on prosthetic “blades”.

Ms Martin was the last witness for the prosecution at the hearing, which began in Pretoria’s High Court on Monday and is expected to conclude by the end of the week.

Pistorius’ lawyer, Barry Roux, asked her about the couple’s loving relationship.

Ms Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, was excited and fond of Pistorius, “but I couldn’t see love”, Ms Martin replied.

On Tuesday, Barry Steenkamp gave emotional testimony, saying Pistorius should pay for killing his daughter.

The BBC’s Pumza Fihlani says the athlete, who a psychologist earlier said was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, was trembling and covering his face as his lawyer presented his closing arguments.

Mr Roux argued that a sentence with community service should be considered and he asked Pistorius to walk on his stumps to remind the court of his client’s vulnerability.

Pistorius was initially jailed for manslaughter in 2014 and was released into house arrest after a year, but his conviction was changed to murder after the prosecution appealed.

He was released from prison last October and allowed to serve out the remainder of his initial sentence under house arrest at his uncle’s property in Pretoria, the capital of South Africa.

Source: BBC

Kofi Oppong Kyekyeku

I am a Ghanaian Broadcast Journalist/Writer who has an interest in General News, Sports, Entertainment, Health, Lifestyle and many more.

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