Durban – Uganda athlete 33-year-old Rebbeca Cheptegesi has died at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret.
Reports from Uganda said Cheptegesi, who was in ICU, succumbed to serious burn wounds that covered most of her body.
The long-distance runner was attacked on Sunday, (1 September 2024), by her ex-boyfriend, reports said.
Police said a Kenyan Dickson Ndiema Marangach had doused Cheptegei with petrol and set her alight at her home in Endebess in the western county of Trans-Nzoia.
Cheptegesi died early Thursday morning, (5 September 2024), just weeks after participating in the Paris Olympics.
Earlier this week, 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.
Cheptegei has two daughters aged nine and 11.
Marangach was also wounded in the incident, sustaining 30 percent burns on his body. He remains in hospital under police guard.
