The Ugandan athlete Rebecca Cheptegei’s ex-partner who was accused of killing her by dousing her in petrol and setting her on fire, has died from burns sustained during the attack, according to the Kenyan hospital where he was being treated, on Tuesday.
Cheptegei, who was 33 years at the time of her death had participated in the marathon at the Paris Olympics, had suffered burns to over 75% of her body in the September 1 attack that killed her four days later.
Her former boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, died at 7:50 p.m. (16:50 GMT) on Monday, according to the reports of Daniel Lang’at, a spokesperson at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret in western Kenya, —the hospital where Cheptegei was also treated and died.
“He died from his injuries, the burns he sustained,” Lang’at had announced.
Cheptegei, who placed 44th in Paris Olympics, has become the third elite sportswoman to be killed in Kenya since October 2021. Her death has spotlighted the domestic violence in the East African country, particularly within its running community.
Rights groups have said that female athletes in Kenya are at a higher risk of exploitation and violence at the hands of males who are drawn to their prize money, which far exceeds local incomes.
Almost 34% of Kenyan girls and women aged 15-49 years have suffered physical violence, according to government data from 2022, and married women are at particular risk.
