Rebecca Cheptegei, a Ugandan distance runner living in Kenya, is in critical condition and receiving treatment in a hospital in Eldoret for 75% burns, after she was set on fire by her boyfriend, according to police.
BRUTAL ATTACK Cheptegei, who finished 44th in the Olympic marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympics, suffered the brutal attack in her house in western Trans Nzoia County. Her partner, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, doused her with petrol, which he had bought, and set her on fire during a disagreement on Sunday, Trans Nzoia police commander Jeremiah ole Kosiom said. Local media reported that Marangach secretly entered Cheptigei’s home while she and her children were at church.
MULTIPLE BURNS Marangach also sustained burns from the incident and the pair were rescued by neighbours who took them to nearby Kitale County Referral Hospital where they were admitted with “multiple burns” before being transferred to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in the nearby city of Eldoret.
Local media also reported that at the scene police discovered a five-litre yellow jerry can, a bag, and a black Marvin, believed to be Marangach’s, and a burnt mobile phone, presumed to be Cheptigei’s.
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN Gender-based violence has been a serious issue in Kenya. In January this year, thousands of women and men marched in Nairobi and other major cities in Kenya calling for an end to femicide and violence against women.
In 2021, record-breaking runner Agnes Tirop, 25, was stabbed to death at her home in Iten. The trial of her estranged husband Emmanuel Ibrahim Rotich over her murder is still ongoing. He has denied the charges.
In 2022, Kenyan-born Bahraini athlete Damaris Muthee Mutua was found dead, and a post-mortem examination said she had been strangled, suspected to have been killed by her Ethiopian boyfriend.
