ONE of the three women held captive in a US home for about a decade has told a crowd she has been able to forgive her kidnapper and find peace in her life. MICHELLE Knight, who was kidnapped in August 2002 when she was 21, said she realises now that Ariel Castro had a disease, and therapy has taught her that what he did hadn't been his fault, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported. Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus broke out of the house in May 2013 after suffering years of torture. Knight said it wasn't until about a year and a half after her rescue from Castro's home that she reached a breakthrough. "I was able to say his name, Ariel Castro," the 33-year-old Knight said. "I was able to forgive him." Knight made the comments during an interview conducted by a radio host on Sunday at Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin High School in Ohio. Castro pleaded guilty to a long list of charges and committed suicide in prison in September 2013. "I felt very appalled by it, but I understood," Knight said of Castro's prison suicide. "I don't condone what he did." She received applause from the crowd when she said she hopes for the best for Castro's family. "A lot of people who have contacted me through Facebook see me as an inspiration," said Knight, who has written a book about her ordeal called "Finding Me." "It means the world to me and it is an honour to help everybody I can." Knight said her time in captivity has made her stronger and has allowed her to know herself better. "The situation (Castro) put me in didn't define me," she said. "I choose to live a meaningful life."

IF OSCAR Pistorius is sent to jail for the killing of Reeva Steenkamp, the Kgosi Mampuru II prison, formerly known as Pretoria Central Prison, will become his new home.

The Blade Runner finds out on Tuesday if he will go to prison or if he will be allowed to live at home, under house arrest.
If jailed, he would become one of about 7000 inmates currently held in the jail close to the centre of Pretoria.

Fall from grace ... Oscar Pistorius may face a lengthy stay in one of South Africa’s toughest jails.

Within six hours of admission to the jail, Pistorius would undergo a health assessment and be sent to the prison’s hospital section.

Tough jail ... Oscar Pistorius could end up in Kgosi Mampuru Prison if the judge sentences him to jail time for the culpable homicide of Reeva Steenkamp.

Here there are 22 single cells, of which seven are currently occupied. It is in one of these Pistorius would find himself.
Each cell has a toilet, a basin, a bed with a mattress and blankets, sheets and pillow, a cupboard. The hospital section has showers with rails and baths.
There is one jail doctor for the 7000 prisoners and about five psychologists. Private doctors are able to visit at the inmate’s own expense.

Visting hours ... relatives and friends of Oscar Pistorius would meet the Blade Runner in this area. Source: Supplied

Photographs taken inside the prison showing inmates voting in South Africa’s general election last May show the rough conditions that await the Blade Runner.
Those prisoners too ill have their food delivered to them, others get it for themselves.
And a range of programs are offered to prisoners — anger management, life skills, substance abuse, marriage and family counselling, formal and higher education, skills development such as spray painting, mechanics, engineering. There are also job opportunities, like working in the textile or furniture workshops or gardening.
And if Pistorius wants to keep up his sport and training there is a main gym and a smaller gym at the hospital. There are also athletics, soccer, rugby and boxing for him to take part in.
He would only be allowed two visits per week — on Saturdays, Sundays or public holidays.
A sign at the visiting section door says that prisoners in A Group are allowed visits of 60 minutes, those in B Group are 45 minutes and C group are allowed only 30 minutes per visit.
The visiting area is sparse — wooden benches with very little else.

Strict rules ... a notice board in the visting area at Kgosi Mampuru Prison, formerly Pretoria Central prison. Source: Supplied

The court has already heard that Pistorius, a double-amputee who uses prosthetic legs, would be kept in a cell in the prison’s hospital section.
It is deemed this would be more appropriate as the section has showers with rails and baths and would be the most appropriate place for someone with Pistorius’ disability.
Much of the week-long sentence hearing was taken up with debate over the parlous or otherwise state of South Africa’s prisons and whether Pistorius can be afforded basic human rights, given his disability, if he is sent to one.
Pistorius’s side called a probation officer to say no. The state countered, in a clever move, by calling the boss of Correctional Services himself.
Moleko Zac Modise, the acting national commissioner for Correctional Services, was not happy that his prisons had been pilloried in the court and the international media.

And he ensured the honourable court that if Pistorius was sentenced to jail at Pretoria Central that he will “absolutely” be treated humanely and “we would ensure that his human rights are respected”.
Despite wardens who had called Pistorius’s lawyer Barry Roux to tell of the situation in jails and lawyers who told the media of clients being treated appallingly in jail, Mr Modise testified that South African jails were the best in the continent and compared favourably with Britain and the US.
Pistorius’s lawyer subjected Mr Modise to some strenuous cross-examination.
Like, why didn’t he know about threats, from inside the prison from a notorious gang leader and murderer known as The General who had threatened to “take out” Pistorius.
Mr Roux pointed out the threats were in the newspaper.
Pistorius will be sentenced on Tuesday evening (AEDT).