Anger as Pistorius release set for Aug 21

JOHANNESBURG - Oscar Pistorius, the South African double amputee sprinter who shot dead his girlfriend, is scheduled to be freed on parole on August 21 after serving just 10 months in jail, officials said Monday. The proposed release date provoked an angry reaction from the parents of model and television presenter Reeva Steenkamp, 29, who Pistorius shot on Valentine’s Day in 2013. Pistorius, a role model around the world after competing in the Paralympics and Olympics, claimed that he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder, firing four shots through a locked bathroom door. “Incarceration of 10 months for taking a life is simply not enough,” her parents June and Barry Steenkamp said. “We fear that this will not send out the proper message and serve as the deterrent it should.”

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