Ugandan athlete Cheptegei dies after being set on fire by boyfriend

Kathmandu: Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei has died, after four days after being set on fire by her boyfriend.

Ugandan athletics officials said Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei died on Thursday. Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital Dr. Owen Menach said Cheptegei died due to organ failure.  Cheptegei’s partner, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, doused her with petrol and set her alight on Sunday at her home in Endebess in the western county of Trans-Nzoia.

Likewise, the Uganda Athletics Federation said on X. ‘As a federation, we condemn such acts and call for justice. May her soul rest in peace.’  The Kenya National Olympic Committee also on X extended its deepest condolences to the Ugandan sports community, family, and friends of Cheptegei and said ‘Rebecca’s talent and perseverance as Uganda’s Women’s Marathon record holder and a Paris 2024 Olympian will always be remembered and celebrated, her untimely and tragic passing is a profound loss and our thoughts and prayers are with you during this difficult time as we honor her legacy and advocate for an end to gender-based violence’

According to latest figures from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics published in January 2023 it found that 34 % of women in the country experienced physical violence since the age of 15.

RSS/ AFP