On Sunday, September 1, 2024, Rebecca Cheptegei was attacked by her boyfriend identified as Dickson Ndiema Marangach, at her home in Endebess located in the western region of Kenya’s Trans-Nzoia County. Marangach reportedly poured petrol on Cheptegei and set her on fire.
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Rebecca Cheptegei was a celebrated Ugandan marathon runner who had represented Uganda at the Paris Olympics, where she finished 44th in the marathon event.
Prior to her participation in the Paris Olympics, Rebecca Cheptegei had also achieved success in other athletic events. She finished 14th in the marathon at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest.
In 2022, she won a race at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships held in Thailand.
Rebecca Cheptegei was attacked after returning home from church with her two young daughters. The attack took place on September 1, 2024 and both the victim and the perpetrator were admitted to the hospital the same day.
Rebecca Cheptegei’s condition deteriorated due to the extent of her burns and despite the efforts of the medical team, she passed away on September 5, 2024.
Reports suggest that the argument leading to the attack was related to a disagreement over a piece of land. Cheptegei had bought a plot in Trans Nzoia County, where she built a home to be closer to Kenya’s elite athletics training centers.
Rebecca Cheptegei was a well-known marathon runner, having competed in the Paris 2024 Olympics, where she finished 44th in the women’s marathon. She had also won a gold medal at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Thailand in 2022.
Fellow athletes spoke highly of her generosity and support for younger runners. Ugandan athlete James Kirwa shared how she had provided financial help to struggling runners and even brought him new training shoes after the Olympics.
Doctors revealed that her organs had started to fail due to the burns and a resulting sepsis infection. After battling her injuries for four days, Cheptegei passed away in the early hours of Thursday, September 5, 2024.
She was dead at 5:00 am by hospital staff. A nurse involved in her care confirmed her death and it was later revealed that her injuries were too severe for her body to recover.
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Donald Rukare, president of the Uganda Olympic Committee expressed his sorrow over the incident.
The Uganda Athletics Federation also issued a statement on X, mourning her death and calling for justice for the brutal crime committed against her. They reiterated their stance against domestic violence and gender-based violence.
The Kenya National Olympic Committee in a message of condolence praised Rebecca Cheptegei for her talent and dedication, remembering her as Uganda’s Women’s Marathon record holder and a strong competitor at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The death of Rebecca Cheptegei has brought attention to the rates of domestic violence and femicide in East Africa particularly in Kenya and Uganda.
This is not the first case of domestic violence leading to the death of a female athlete in the region. In 2021, Agnes Tirop, a record-breaking Kenyan runner was found stabbed to death with her estranged husband being the prime suspect.
In 2022, Damaris Mutua, a Kenyan-born athlete was murdered in Iten, a training hub for long-distance runners. The frequency of such incidents has prompted activists to call for urgent action to address the femicide epidemic in the region.
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, as of January 2023, 34 percent of women in Kenya reported experiencing physical violence since the age of 15.
Kenya’s Bureau of National Statistics reported in early 2023 that 34% of women in the country had experienced physical violence with married women or those in relationships being vulnerable.
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