The suspect in the arson attack on the late Ugandan athlete, Rebecca Cheptegei has died in hospital.
Dickson Ndiema Marangach set Rebecca Cheptegei ablaze in her home in western Kenya on September 1.
She sustained 80 percent burns and died last week.
During the attack, Marangach also incurred 30 percent burns and was being given intensive care when he died.
“He died from his injuries, the burns he sustained,” said Daniel Lang’at a hospital spokesperson in an interview with the Reuters news agency.
Details of the attack
Police in Kenya said Marangach snuck into her home in Endebess, near the border with Uganda, while she was at church with her children aged nine and 11.
Her father, Joseph Cheptegei, told reporters the dispute with Marangach had been over the property where she lived with her sister and daughters.
He told Kenyan media last week that Marangach had bought five litres (1.3 gallons) of petrol and then hid out in a chicken coop before the attack.
“He poured the petrol and lit her on fire. When she called her sister to help, he threatened her with a machete and she ran away.”
The police said the couple had “constantly had family wrangles”.
Tributes
The United Nations condemned her “violent murder”, with Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres, saying: “Gender-based violence is one of the most prevalent human rights violations in the world, and should be treated as such.”
Cheptegei, who finished 44th in Paris, is the third elite sportswoman to be killed in Kenya since October 2021.
She is due to be buried on September 14 near her family home in eastern Uganda.
On Sunday, the Paralympic Games in Paris paid tribute to her when a picture of Cheptegei appeared on a giant screen after the marathon events on the last day of the games. The tribute was met with applause from the spectators at the Esplanade des Invalides.
The city of Paris said it would honour Cheptegei by naming a sports venue after her.
Source: Africafeeds.com
