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Steenkamp's mother bitter as Pistorius huddles with family

By Agence France-Presse in Pretoria, South Africa | China Daily | Updated: 2013-02-25 05:57

South Africa's Olympic "Blade Runner" and murder suspect Oscar Pistorius spent his first day out on bail with his family on Saturday as the mother of Reeva Steenkamp, the model girlfriend he is accused of murdering, cut a bitter figure.

"I just want to finish mourning my daughter. I will have to get used to life without her," June Steenkamp told the Afrikaans-language daily Beeld, adding she had "cried out all my tears".

Pistorius's family sent flowers and a card to the Steenkamp family, but "what does that mean?" she asked, before adding: "Nothing".

Pistorius was freed on a record one million rand ($112,770) bail on Friday after over a week in custody and an emotionally charged four-day bail hearing.

His family expressed "immense" relief at his release. "We are extremely thankful that Oscar is now home," his uncle Arnold Pistorius said.

The 26-year-old sprinter is accused of the premeditated murder of 29-year-old Reeva Steenkamp, a model with a law degree.

On Saturday, the Pistorius family distanced itself from a tweet purportedly thanking all the people that prayed for the two families.

"It is most unfortunate that during this sensitive time, someone would choose to hack into Oscar Pistorius's older brother Carl Pistorius's Twitter handle," said family spokeswoman Janine Hills.

The brother had not tweeted "out of respect" for the Steenkamp family, she said.

Steenkamp's mother bitter as Pistorius huddles with family

Oscar Pistorius      AFP

"They are very sensitive towards Reeva and her family and the tragic accident, " another spokeswoman said.

Pistorius admitted to repeatedly shooting through a locked bathroom door at his lover, mistaking her for a burglar.

But Steenkamp's father, Barry, in an interview with the Beeld, appeared unconvinced.

"It doesn't matter how rich he is and how good his legal team is. He needs to live with himself if he lets his legal team lie for him," he said.

Pistorius has assembled some of the best legal brains in South Africa to defend him.

"He'll have to live with his conscience. But if he's telling the truth, I may forgive him one day," Steenkamp's father said.

But "if it didn't happen as he described it, he should suffer. And he will suffer ... only he knows."

The Paralympic gold medalist and Olympian will return to court on June 4 when a date will be set for trial.

When contacted by AFP, his father, Henke, Pistorius declined to say how his son had slept at his uncle's house in Pretoria.

In addition to the bail cash, which experts say is among the highest ever set in South Africa, Pistorius had to surrender his passport and his firearms. The magistrate quadrupled the bail amount initially proposed by the state.

He will have to report to Pretoria's Brooklyn police on Mondays and Fridays. He was also ordered not to take alcohol or drugs.

His arrest on Feb 14 shocked the world and gripped South Africa, where he became a national hero after becoming the first double amputee to compete in the Olympics last year.

If found guilty he faces a possible life sentence.

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