Attorney Tania Koen said in a text message that Pistorius and Barry Steenkamp met face-to-face on June 22 as part of what is known in South Africa as a victim-offender dialogue.

It gives crime victims or their relatives a chance to meet the perpetrators if they wish before the perpetrator can be considered for parole.

Koen confirmed the meeting, but declined to provide more details.

She wrote in her message: “The dialogue is a private and confidential matter, so we ask that the privacy of our customers is respected.”

Pistorius, once a double amputee athletic star who made history by competing in the Olympics, was eligible for parole last year, eight years after killing his girlfriend at his home in the South African capital, Pretoria.

Pistorius, who is now 35, was finally convicted of murder in 2015 after a long and dramatic trial and numerous appeals.

He was sentenced to 13 years and five months in prison.

He served most of his sentence in a prison in Pretoria, but was transferred to an institution in the southern town of Gqeberha, the birthplace of the Steenkamps, before meeting Barry Steenkamp.

A conditional hearing for Pistorius was scheduled last year, but it fell through because he had not yet met Steenkamp’s parents.

In South Africa, persons convicted of a serious crime must serve at least half their sentence before being eligible for parole.

Pistorius had spent some time in prison after initially being convicted of wrongful death – a charge akin to manslaughter – before an appeal from prosecutors overturned it and convicted him of murder.

Pistorius has yet to attend a parole hearing, where Correction Department officials will decide whether he should be released early.

Pistorius’ lawyer Julian Knight said last year that he had been “a model inmate” and met parole requirements.

Pistorius was born with a congenital condition that caused both of his legs to be amputated below the knee when he was a baby.

He became a multiple Paralympic champion in sprinting on carbon fiber blades and even qualified to compete against the world’s most able-bodied athletes at the 2012 London Olympics.

But his image as one of the sport’s most inspirational figures was shattered when he shot 29-year-old Steenkamp multiple times through a restroom door in his home in the early hours of Valentine’s Day 2013.

He claimed he mistook her for a dangerous intruder, but was convicted of a charge akin to second-degree murder for acting so recklessly by firing his 9mm pistol through the toilet door.