Ugandan athlete set ablaze by boyfriend dies

Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei has died after being set on fire by her boyfriend in Kenya.

Cheptegei’s demise was announced by Uganda’s Olympic Committee chief Donald Rukare on Thursday.

Rukare said in a post on X: “We have learnt of the sad passing on of our Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei OLY following a vicious attack by her boyfriend.

“May her gentle soul rest in peace and we strongly condemn violence against women. This was a cowardly and senseless act that has led to the loss of a great athlete. Her legacy will continue to endure.”

Cheptegei, 33, had sustained burns to 80 per cent of her body, the acting head of the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in the Rift Valley city of Eldorect where she was being treated, told reporters on Tuesday.

“All her organs failed last night,” a medic at the facility disclosed on Thursday.

Police had said a man named Dickson Ndiema Marangach, identified as her partner, had allegedly doused the Ugandan athlete with petrol and set her alight in an attack on Sunday at her home in Endebess in the western county of Trans-Nzoia.

The incident occurred just weeks after Cheptegei had taken part in the marathon at the Paris Olympics, where she placed 44th.

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Kenyan media had reported that one of Cheptegei’s daughters witnessed the assault at her mother’s home.

“He kicked me while I tried to run to the rescue of my mother.

“I immediately cried out for help, attracting a neighbour who tried to extinguish the flames with water, but it was not possible,” said the girl, who has not been named.

Marangach was also wounded in the incident, sustaining 30 per cent burns on his body, according to AFP.

The assault comes two years after Kenyan-born athlete Damaris Mutua was found dead in Iten, a world-famous running hub in the Rift Valley.

In 2021, record-breaking Kenyan runner Agnes Tirop, 25, was found stabbed to death at her home in Iten in 2021. Her estranged husband is on trial over her murder. He has denied the charges.

Latest figures from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics published in January 2023 found that 34 per cent of women in the country had experienced physical violence since the age of 15.

The Star