Rebecca Cheptegei, an Olympic athlete from Uganda, has died at a Kenyan hospital four days after being set on fire by her partner, a hospital official confirmed Thursday.
Cheptegei, 33, was being treated for burns covering 80% of her body, they reported. Her boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema, bought a can of gasoline, poured it on her and lit her on fire during a disagreement Sunday, Trans Nzoia County Police Commander Jeremiah ole Kosiom said Monday. Ndiema was also burned and was being treated at the same hospital.
Owen Menach, a spokesperson at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret city, said the long-distance runner died early Thursday, the morning after her organs failed. She had been fully sedated on admission.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month ago, finishing in 44th place.
Her parents told reporters at the hospital she bought land in Trans Nzoia to be near Kenya’s many athletic training centers. According to a report filed by the local chief, Cheptegei and Ndiema were heard fighting before the attack over the land where her house was built.
Her father, Joseph Cheptegei, said he had lost a daughter who was “very supportive” and said he hoped to get justice.
“As it is now, the criminal who harmed my daughter is a murderer and I am yet to see what the security officials are doing,” he added. “He is still free and might even flee.”
The Uganda Athletics Federation memorialized Cheptegei in a post dedicated to her on social media, writing, “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.”
Uganda Olympic Committee President Donald Rukare called the attack “a cowardly and senseless act that has led to the loss of a great athlete.”
According to figures from UN Women, the agency promoting gender equality, and the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, a woman or girl is killed by an intimate partner or family member somewhere in the world every 11 minutes on average.
The U.N. strongly condemned Cheptegei’s tragic death, and spokesman Stéphane Dujarric recalled the words of Secretary-General António Guterres who said, “We still live in a male-dominated culture that leaves women vulnerable by denying them equality in dignity and rights.”
Dujarric added the denial of women’s rights leaves societies less peaceful, economies less prosperous, and the world less just, “but a different world is possible.”
