Ugandan athlete Rebecca Cheptegei dies after fire attack

Ugandan athlete Rebecca Cheptegei who had been admitted at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret has passed away.

Cheptegei succumbed to burn injuries which she sustained in a fire attack, where she was allegedly doused with petrol and set on fire by her partner.

The 33-year-old athlete had been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) but passed away on Wednesday night.

Cheptegei, who finished 44th in Paris, has a house in Kenya where she stays when she trains in the country.

Doctors at the Referral hospital had referred to Cheptegei’s condition as critical as she had sustained 80 per cent burns.

Mzee Joseph Cheptegei, who is the father to the deceased on Wednesday narrated to the media what transpired on Sunday that led to her daughter being hospitalised.

He said he was devasted to see that his daughter was fighting for her life at the hospital.

“I’m devasted to see that my daughter whom I depend on many issues, also helps me in educating children. As the situation is, my heart is not at rest because I have never seen such a hurtless act,” Cheptegei said.

He initially said his daughter resided in Uganda but came to Kenya for training.

We have learnt of the sad passing on of our Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei OLY following a vicious attack by her boyfriend. May her gentle soul rest in peace and we strongly condemn violence against women. This was a cowardly and senseless act that has led to the loss of a… pic.twitter.com/V8Mog3oMOX

— Donald Rukare (@drukare) September 5, 2024

However, it reached a point where Cheptegei saw it was important and economical to buy land and a house in Kenya.

Violent relationship

Mzee Cheptegei opened up about the relationship between his daughter and Dickson Ndiema Marangach, saying they had been together for a while.

“As a human being, one gets to have interactions and that is when Cheptegei started talking to him. However, it reached a point where they were not agreeing to a point and they stopped living with each other," he said.

On Sunday, September 1, 2024, Mzee Cheptegei said he was in church and my phone was off.

"At around 4 pm, this man, Ndiema came to the homestead and was carrying a five-litre jerrican full of petrol and came home with it. At that moment, my daughter and her kids were in church. Ndiema sneaked in and was hiding inside the coop,” he narrated.

Cheptegei’s father said that when his daughter and grandchildren came from church, Cheptegei started gathering the sacks with chicken feed and that’s when Ndiema attacked her.

It was at this point, that Ndiema poured the petrol on Cheptegei and when she started running as narrated by the father, Ndiema held her back and lit the matchbox.

Cheptegei called on her sister to rush and bring her blanket in attempt to put off the fire, but Ndiema got hold of the sister and she fell.

“The guy( Ndiema) got hold of a panga and scared away the children. Himself, he had caught fire and decided to run to the neighbours,” Mzee Cheptegei added.

Condemning the incident, Cheptegei said he wants justice for his daughter.

“I’m crying for justice because how can one just decide to burn someone just like that? If there was a problem, why not follow the channels for the disputes to be addressed?” he posed.