Prison officials say the former track star denied he tried to commit suicide by cutting his wrists.
ADVERTISEMENTWhat happened to Oscar Pistorius? The South African athlete was treated in hospital on Saturday for injuries to his wrists, and has since returned to custody, prison officials said on Sunday.
The Paralympic gold medallist is currently serving a six-year sentence for the Valentine’s Day murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013.
A local newspaper said he apparently tried to cut his wrists in his cell ands was rushed to hospital around midday on Saturday. City Press quoted a security guard as saying: “He had bad cuts on his wrists and the doctors kept wrapping bandages around them.”
An inmate situated close to the hospital section told the paper that Pistorius had injured himself intentionally, and it quoted two warders as saying razor blades were found in his cell.
But prison officials dismissed speculations Pistorius attempted suicide. The double amputee told officials he hurt himself falling out of bed, according to a spokesman for South Africa’s correctional services department.
Oscar Pistorius denies attempting suicide in jail https://t.co/G9HtPabtvdpic.twitter.com/WbaRONs8CA
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) August 7, 2016
The former track star, nicknamed “Blade Runner” for the carbon-fibre prosthetics he wore when racing, appeared very depressed at his trial last month.
Pistorius and his longtime coach, Ampie Louw, said before Steenkamp’s killing they wanted to retire together at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, which kicked off this Friday.
Pistorius shot Steenkamp multiple times through a toilet door in his home in the early hours of February 14, 2013. Pistorius testified that he thought she was an intruder and shot her by mistake.
Prosecutors believe he killed her intentionally after an argument, and said they would appeal his six-year sentence, which they called “shockingly lenient.”
A “depressed” Oscar Pistorius is back in court in South Africa for his murder sentencing https://t.co/jR4fQZonEqpic.twitter.com/JLBSiqirWt
— AFP news agency (@AFP) June 13, 2016