Rebecca Cheptegei: Ex-partner accused of fatally burning Olympian dies
The former partner of Ugandan athlete Rebecca Cheptegei, who was accused of killing her by setting her on fire, has died from burns sustained during the attack.
The former partner of Ugandan athlete Rebecca Cheptegei, who was accused of killing her by dousing her in petrol and setting her on fire, has died from burns sustained during the attack, the Kenyan hospital where he was being treated said on Tuesday.
Cheptegei, 33, who competed in the marathon at the Paris Olympics, suffered burns to more than 75% of her body in the Sept. 1 attack and died four days later.
Her former boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, died on Monday, said Daniel Lang’at, a spokesperson at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret in western Kenya, where Cheptegei was also treated and died.
“He died from his injuries, the burns he sustained,” Lang’at told Reuters. Local media reported that he had suffered 30% burns when he assaulted Cheptegei as she was returning home from church with her children.
Cheptegei, who finished 44th in Paris, is the third elite sportswoman to be killed in Kenya since October 2021. Her death has put the spotlight on domestic violence in the East African country, particularly within its running community.
Rating: 5