Rebecca Cheptegei represented Uganda in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics 2024 [File: Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports]
Uganda’s Olympian Cheptegei dies after being set on fire by boyfriend
Marathon runner Cheptegei died aged 33 due to multiple organ failure after suffering 80 percent burns when her boyfriend poured petrol on her and set her on fire in Kenya.
Uganda’s Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei has died four days after being set on fire by her boyfriend, the country’s Olympic chief said.
“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.
The 33-year-old succumbed to the burns she suffered when her boyfriend poured petrol on her and set her ablaze in Kenya, making her the third female athlete to be killed in the country since October 2021.
“[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.
Peter Ogwang, Uganda’s minister of state for education and sports, described her death as “tragic”.
“Kenyan authorities are investigating the circumstances under which she died and a more detailed report and program will be provided in due course,” he said.
UOC chief Rukare termed the incident a “cowardly and senseless act” and said it had deprived the country of a “great athlete”.
“Her legacy will continue to endure,” he added.
Cheptegei had sustained burns to three-quarters of her body, the acting head of MTRH in the Rift Valley city of Eldoret, where she was being treated, told reporters on Tuesday.
Identifying the accused as her partner, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, police said he doused Cheptegei with petrol and set her alight on Sunday at her home in Endebess in the western county of Trans-Nzoia.
The incident took place just weeks after Cheptegei participated in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics, where she finished 44th.
The Uganda Olympic Committee called for swift action in a statement confirming Cheptegei’s death.
“We urge the relevant law enforcement agencies to take swift and decisive action to bring the perpetrator to justice for this cowardly and deplorable action.”
Cheptegei began her career in 2010 and represented Uganda in various long-distance races, making her first Olympic appearance at the games in Paris.
Her parents travelled to Trans-Nzoia and told local media that their daughter had bought land in the Kenyan county and built a house where she stayed for her training.
She met Ndiema in Trans-Nzoia and the attack stemmed from a dispute over the house she owned, according to a report in The Standard newspaper.
The Uganda Athletics Federation decried the incident and termed Cheptegei a “victim to domestic violence”.
“We condemn such acts and call for justice,” the sports body said in a post.
Kenyan media 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,” Kenya’s The Standard quoted her as saying.
“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 was not named.
Marangach was also wounded in the incident, sustaining 30 percent burns on his body.
Cheptegei’s death shines a spotlight on violence experienced by sportswomen in Kenya. 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.
And 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.
