The Police investigation into the death of the 33-year-old marathon runner from Uganda, Rebecca Cheptegei, who was set on fire by her partner, is ongoing. Cheptegei suffered burns to 75% of her body when her partner doused her in petrol and set her on fire.
The 33-year-old, who finished 44th in the marathon at the Paris Olympics, had bought land in the Trans Nzoia area to be close to the county’s many training centres. A report filed by local authorities states that Cheptegei and her boyfriend were heard fighting over the plot of land where the house was built shortly before the fire broke out, the Indepedent report said.
Kenya’s Sports Minister Kipchumba Murkomen said Cheptegei’s death was a loss “for the whole region”. “This tragedy is a stark reminder that we must do more to combat gender-based violence in our society, which in recent years has flourished in elite sports circles,” he said.
The murders of female athletes in Kenya are a scourge
Cheptegei is the latest athlete to be murdered in Kenya. In 2021 Agnes Tirop, Kenya’s rising track and field star and two-time World Championships bronze medalist, was found dead in her home with stab wounds to her throat. Her husband was charged with her murder, but pleaded not guilty and the case is still not closed.
The death of the 25-year-old shocked Kenya and led current and former athletes to create the non-profit charity “Tirop’s Angels” to fight domestic violence against women and girls.
2022 Kenyan-Bahrain-born athlete Damaris Muthee Mutua is found dead with an autopsy report stating she was strangled. Mutua’s boyfriend was identified as the prime suspect and police are still looking for him.
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