A Ugandan long distance athlete living in Kenya who was set ablaze by her boyfriend upon her return from the Olympic games has died.
The 33-year-old succumbed to the burns she suffered when her boyfriend poured petrol on her and set her ablaze in Kenya.
She is the third female athlete to be killed in the country since October 2021.
Rebecca Cheptegei who finished at the 44th position in the 2024 Paris Olympics, was attacked in her house in the western Trans Nzoia County.
She was receiving treatment for 75% burns.
Trans Nzoia County Police Commander Jeremiah ole Kosiom has disclosed that Cheptegei’s boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema, bought a jerrican of petrol for the attack.
He poured it on her and set her ablaze during a disagreement Sunday.
Ndiema also sustained burn wounds, and the two were receiving specialized treatment at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret city.
Cheptegei’s parents said their daughter bought land in Trans Nzoia to be near the county’s many athletic training centers.
A report filed by the local chief states that the couple was heard fighting over the land where the house was built before the fire started.
In a social media post, the country’s Olympic chief said Rebecca Cheptegei died from organ failure.
“We have learnt of the sad passing on of our Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei following a vicious attack by her boyfriend,” Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) President Donald Rukare said in a post on X on Thursday.
“[Cheptegei] passed today morning after her organs failed,” Owen Menach, senior director of clinical services at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), told the Reuters news agency, adding that a full report regarding the circumstances of her death would be released on Thursday afternoon.
In 2023, Ugandan Olympic runner and steeplechaser Benjamin Kiplagat was found dead with stab wounds.
In 2022, Kenyan-born Bahraini athlete Damaris Muthee was found dead with a postmortem report stating that she was strangled.
Source: Africafeeds.com
