Uganda Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei set on fire by her boyfriend, Kenya police say

A Ugandan athlete living in Kenya was attacked and set on fire by her boyfriend and is receiving treatment for burns on 75% of her body, police said.

Rebecca Cheptegei, a distance runner who finished at the 44th position in the 2024 Paris Olympics, was attacked in her house in the western Trans Nzoia County. She was in critical condition as of Tuesday, the BBC reported.

Trans Nzoia County Police Commander Jeremiah ole Kosiom said Monday that Cheptegei’s boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema, bought a jerrican of petrol, poured it on her and set her ablaze during an argument Sunday.

“Her condition looks serious with facial burns and bandages,” a MTRH staff member told AFP, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The police report did not mention if Cheptegei’s children were hurt in the attack.

Ndiema also sustained burn wounds, and the two are receiving specialized treatment at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret city.

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.

The Ugandan Athletics Federation expressed its regret over the incident, saying Cheptegei had “suffered severe injuries.”

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“This follows an incident involving her Kenyan boyfriend pouring petrol and setting fire on her,” it said in a statement on social media.

Disturbing trend of gender-based violence

The attack marked the latest horrific incident of gender-based violence in the East African country.

A report by the Kenyan Bureau of National Statistics published in January 2023 found that 34 percent of women in Kenya have experienced physical violence since the age of 15.

It said women who had “been married are much more likely to have experienced violence”, noting that 41 percent of such women reported incidents compared to 20 percent of unmarried women.

The assault on Cheptegei comes two years after Kenyan-born athlete Damaris Mutua was found dead in Iten, a world-famous running hub in the Rift Valley in the west of the country.

Her death followed the murder of record-breaking runner Agnes Tirop, 25, who was found stabbed to death at her home in Iten in 2021.

Tirop’s estranged husband Emmanuel Ibrahim Rotich went on trial over her murder in 2023. He has denied the charges. His trial is ongoing.

AFP contributed to this report.