Ugandan athlete Rebecca Cheptegei is in critical condition in Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, Kenya. She was allegedly doused with gasoline and set on fire by her former boyfriend.
The 33-year-old marathon runner, who competed in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, has suffered extensive burns to most of her body.
We regret to announce that our athlete Rebecca Cheptegei, who competed at the Olympics has suffered severe injuries and is hospitalized at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret. This follows an incident involving her Kenyan boyfriend pouring petrol and setting fire on her pic.twitter.com/rgnWvgTpkb
— UGANDA ATHLETICS FEDERATION🇺🇬🇺🇬 UAF (@UgaAthletics2) September 3, 2024
She was attacked at her home in Kenya, where she had been training. Apparently, there was a dispute between the former couple over land ownership similar to the dispute that resulted in Agnes Tirop’s death.
There are concerns about the increasing cases of violence against female athletes in Kenya, some of which have resulted in death.
Cheptegei was rescued by neighbours after the incident Sunday at her home located in the town of Endebess. She had returned from church with her two children when she was attacked. The alleged attacker also sustained serious burns, local police chief Jeremiah Ole Kosiom told the media.
“The couple were heard quarrelling outside their house. During the altercation, the boyfriend was seen pouring a liquid on the woman before burning her,” Mr. Kosiom said.
Cheptegei finished 44th in the marathon at the Paris Olympic Games. She also won the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2022.
Domestic abuse in Kenya
In April 2022, Damaris Mutua was found strangled in a home with a pillow over her face in Iten. It came months after long-distance runner Agnes Tirop was found stabbed to death in her bed also in Iten. In both cases, it was a case of domestic abuse.
Tirop’s husband is currently facing murder charges, which he denies, while a search for Mutua’s boyfriend continues.
Over 40 per cent of married women in Kenya have reported domestic or sexual violence. In 2014 the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey issued a report stating about 44 per cent of Kenyan women had encountered physical abuse by men since they were Juveniles.
