Uganda Olympic Runner Rebecca Cheptegei Dead at 33 After Boyfriend Set Her on Fire
Cheptegei competed in her first Olympics this summer in Paris.
Rebecca Cheptegei, a Ugandan long-distance runner who competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics, has passed away. She was 33 years old.
The New York Times reports that she died in the ICU at a hospital in Eldoret, Kenya after suffering from burns to 80 percent of her body after her boyfriend poured gasoline on her and set her on fire. She also endured inhalation burns, all of which left her in critical condition. She went into kidney failure and ultimately died from multiple organ failure.
Her partner, Dickson Ndiema attacked her on Sunday afternoon at her home in Kenya. The couple were reportedly arguing over a property dispute, which prompted Ndiema to set her on fire. He sustained burns to 30 percent of his body due to the incident and is recovering in the same hospital as Cheptegei. The Trans Nzoia County Police are planning to charge Ndiema with murder when his health improves.
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Rebecca’s father, Joseph Cheptegei, revealed that the pair’s conflict was due to a property issue. He shared that he previously told the police he was concerned about Ndiema’s behavior towards his daughter, saying that they took “the matter for granted.”
This year’s Olympics was Cheptegei’s first, in which she placed 44th in the women’s marathon.
According to the Times, from 2016 to 2023, at least 500 women in Kenya have died by femicide, which is when a woman or girl is killed, particularly by a man.
RIP.