NAIROBI, Kenya — Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei has died at a Kenyan hospital where she was being treated after sustaining 80% burns on her body in an attack by her partner. She was 33.
A spokesperson at the hospital, Owen Menach, confirmed her death Thursday. Cheptegei was receiving treatment at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret city.
Trans Nzoia County Police Commander Jeremiah ole Kosiom said on Monday that Cheptegei’s partner, Dickson Ndiema, bought a jerrican of petrol, poured it on her and set her ablaze during a disagreement Sunday. Ndiema was also burned and was being treated at the same hospital.
Cheptegei’s parents said their daughter bought land in Trans Nzoia to be near the county’s many athletic training centers.
A report filed by the local chief states that the couple was heard fighting over the land where the house was built before the fire started.
Peter Ogwang, Uganda’s minister of state for sports, said Kenyan authorities were investigating the killing, which has shone a spotlight on violence experienced by women in the east African nation.
Nearly 34% of Kenyan girls and women aged 15-49 years have suffered physical violence, according to government data from 2022, with married women at particular risk.
