Ugandan athlete dies from fire attack from boyfriend
Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei has died days after being doused in petrol and set on fire by a former boyfriend.
The 33-year-old Ugandan marathon runner, who competed in the recent Paris Olympics, had suffered extensive burns after Sunday’s attack.
The authorities in north-west Kenya, where Cheptegei lived and trained, said she was targeted after returning home from church with her two daughters.
Her father, Joseph Cheptegei, said that he had lost a “very supportive” daughter. Fellow Ugandan athlete James Kirwa told the BBC about her generosity and how she had helped out other runners financially.
A report filed by a local administrator alleged the athlete and her ex-partner had been wrangling over a piece of land. Police say an investigation is under way.
Cheptegei, from a region just across the border in Uganda, is said to have bought a plot in Trans Nzoia county and built a house to be near Kenya’s elite athletics training centres.
Attacks on women have become a major concern in Kenya. In 2022 at least 34% of women said they had experienced physical violence, according to a national survey.
“This tragedy is a stark reminder of the urgent need to combat gender-based violence, which has increasingly affected even elite sports,” Kenya’s Sports Minister Kipchumba Murkomen said.
Speaking to journalists outside the hospital where she had been treated, Mr Cheptegei asked the Kenyan government to ensure justice was done after the death of his daughter.
“We have lost our breadwinner,” he added and wondered how her two children, aged 12 and 13, would “proceed with their education.”
Dr Kimani Mbugua, a consultant at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, told local media that the staff did all they could for her but the athlete “had a severe percentage of burns, which unfortunately led to multi-organ failure, which ultimately led to her passing this morning at 05:30 [02:30 GMT]”.
Kirwa, who had visited Cheptegei in hospital, told the BBC she “was a very affable person. [She] helped us all even financially and she brought me training shoes when she came back from the Olympics. She was like an older sister to me”.
Uganda’s athletics federation said in a post on X: “We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our athlete, Rebecca Cheptegei early this morning who tragically fell victim to domestic violence. As a federation, we condemn such acts and call for justice. May her soul rest In Peace.”
“This is heartbreaking. Even more heartbreaking that it’s not the first time the athletics community has lost such an incredible female athlete to domestic violence,” British Olympian Eilish McColgan wrote on X.
Cheptegei’s former boyfriend was also admitted to the hospital in Eldoret – but with less severe burns. He is still in intensive care but his condition was “improving and stable”, Moi hospital’s Dr Owen Menach said.
Earlier, local police chief Jeremiah ole Kosiom was quoted by local media as saying: “The couple were heard quarrelling outside their house. During the altercation, the boyfriend was seen pouring a liquid on the woman before burning her.”
“This was a cowardly and senseless act that has led to the loss of a great athlete. Her legacy will continue to endure,” the head of Uganda’s Olympic committee Donald Rukare said on X.
Talking to reporters earlier in the week, her father said that he prayed “for justice for my daughter”, adding that he had never seen such an inhumane act in his life.
She won gold at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2022. Her death comes after the killings of fellow East African athletes Agnes Tirop in 2021 and Damaris Mutua the following year, with their partners identified as the main suspects in both cases by the authorities.
Tirop’s husband is currently facing murder charges, which he denies, while a hunt for Mutua’s boyfriend continues.
The Oracle Today had earlier reported that a boyfriend attacked Ugandan marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei and set her on fire just weeks after she returned from the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Local police sources officers in Kenya confirmed that 75% of the athlete’s body is covered by burn and she receives treatment at a teaching hospital.
On Monday, Police Commander Jeremiah ole Kosiom said Cheptegei’s boyfriend Dickson Ndiema attacked her at her western Trans-Nzoia County, Kenya, home at around 3 p.m. local time on Sunday after the two got into a heated argument.
According to a police filing by the local chief, Ndiema and Cheptegei had a dispute over land for a house Cheptegei recently bought. Per her parents, she purchased the land in Trans-Nzoia so she could be near the athletic training centers in the area.
“[Ndiema] is believed to have sneaked into the compound at around 2:00 p.m. on Sunday while the wife and the children were in Church. Upon returning, Dickson, who had procured petrol, began pouring it on Rebecca before he set her ablaze,” Kosiom told The Standard in an interview. “The couple was heard quarreling outside their house. During the altercation, the boyfriend was seen pouring a liquid on the woman before burning her. The suspect was also caught by the fire and sustained serious burns.”
Cheptegei, who finished in 44th place for the marathon at the Summer Games, is reportedly in critical condition and is receiving specialized treatment at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital.
