Narnabi, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
The Ugandan Olympic marathon runner, Rebecca Cheptegei, who was set ablaze by her ex-boyfriend, has passed away.
Cheptegei, 33, suffered burns to 80 percent of her body in Sunday’s brutal attack that was carried out by her ex-boyfriend, according to medical officials.
She was rushed to the intensive care unit at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, Kenya.
The facility’s acting director, Dr Owen Menach confirmed this morning that Cheptegei d!ed on Tuesday night, September 3.
‘Unfortunately, we lost her after all her organs failed last night,’ Menach said, as reported by Kenyan newspaper The Star.
The horrific incident occurred just weeks after Cheptegei had taken part in the marathon at the Paris Olympics, where she placed 44th.
Kenyan police confirmed the runner was attacked at her house in western Trans Nzoia County, close to the Ugandan border, where she had recently relocated to be closer to superior Kenyan training facilities.
Trans Nzoia County Police Commander, Jeremiah Ole Kosiom said her former partner, Dickson Ndiema, had bought a can of petrol, poured it on her, and set her ablaze during a disagreement on Sunday.
Her father Joseph Cheptegei claimed that the two were fighting over her land at Endebes in Trans Nzoia shortly before the alleged attack occurred.
‘They were just friends and I wonder why he wanted to take away things belonging to my daughter,’ Cheptegei Snr told The Star, revealing also that his daughter’s two children are fathered by a different man living in Uganda.
He went on to claim that Cheptegei and Ndiema, who he claims have been separated for a long time are involved in a case being investigated by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Kenya.
According to Cheptegei Snr and Police Commander Kosiom, the ex-boyfriend sneaked into his daughter’s home to stage the attack.
‘The boyfriend is believed to have sneaked into the compound at around 2pm on Sunday while the woman and the children were in Church,’ Kosiom said, as per the Kenyan newspaper The Standard.
‘Upon returning, Dickson, who had procured petrol, began pouring it on Rebecca before he set her ablaze.
‘The couple were heard quarrelling 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.’
According to Menach, the alleged ex-boyfriend attacker was also admitted to the same hospital with 30 per cent burns.
Meanwhile, 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 reported 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 has not been named.
