The funeral for Ugandan Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who died in Kenya after being set on fire by her boyfriend, will be held on September 14 in her home country, organisers said on Sunday.
The 33-year-old, who competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics last month, succumbed to severe burns on Thursday, four days after being doused with petrol and set alight at her home in western Kenya.
“The burial date of Rebecca Cheptegei has been set for September 14, in Kongasis sub-county in Bukwo district (eastern Uganda),” Beatrice Ayikoru, secretary general of the Uganda Olympic Committee and a member of the funeral organising committee, told AFP.
Bukwo is the location of Cheptegei’s family home and lies on the border with Kenya about 380 kilometres (240 miles) northeast of the Ugandan capital Kampala. Cheptegei’s death was greeted with anger and sorrow, the latest horrific act of gender-based violence in Kenya where at least two other athletes have lost their lives at the hands of their partners.
Doctors said she had suffered burns to more than 80 per cent of her body after the attack on Sunday last week.
Police say it was carried out by Cheptegei’s Kenyan partner, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, who also suffered serious burns and is being treated in hospital.
Kenyan media said Cheptegei’s children, aged nine and 11, had witnessed the attack. – ‘Unthinkable circumstances’ – The city of Paris said on Friday it would honour Cheptegei, who came 44th in her Olympic marathon debut in August, by naming a sports venue after her.
Tributes have poured in for the runner, who was Uganda’s women’s marathon record holder and also served in the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces, holding the rank of sergeant.
“Our sport has lost a talented athlete in the most tragic and unthinkable circumstances,”
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said. “Rebecca was an incredibly versatile runner who still had lots left to give on the roads, mountains, and cross-country trails.”
Coe said he was in discussions with members of World Athletics’ governing council “to assess how our safeguarding policies might be enhanced to include abuse outside of the sport, and bringing together stakeholders from all areas of athletics to combine forces to protect our female athletes to the best of our abilities from abuse of all kinds.”
Cheptegei’s death has thrown a spotlight on domestic violence and femicide in Kenya, where Sports Minister Kipchumba Murkomen said it was a “stark reminder” that more must be done to combat gender-based violence.
The United Nations also condemned her “violent murder,” with Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres, saying: “Gender-based violence is one of the most prevalent human rights violations in the world, and should be treated as such.”
She was the third female athlete killed by her partner since 2021.
AFP
ALSO READ:
