Nairobi (Kenya): The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei, who was killed after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya, was received by her family and anti-femicide crusaders on Friday. She will be buried on Saturday.
Cheptegei’s family along with dozens of activists marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret, where the Olympian was admitted following the horrific petrol attack. Emotions ran high as the activists chanted anti-femicide slogans during the march.
Cheptegei is the fourth female athlete to die at the hands of her partner in Kenya in recent years. Gender-based violence has been on the rise in the African country.
Viola Cheptoo, who founded the organisation Tirop Angels in honour of athlete Agnes Tirop demanded the stakeholders to look into the matter seriously and ensure there are no more deaths due to gender-based violence. Tirop, a Kenyan athlete, was stabbed to death in 2021 five weeks after setting a new women’s only 10km road running world record in Herzogenaurach, Germany.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
Sombre mood in Eldoret
In what was a sad day in the history of an African country, athletes, friends and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns. The Ugandan athlete was doused with petrol by her partner Dickson Ndiema after a quarrel. Ndiema, who himself sustained 30% burns on his body, died days later after Cheptegei’s demise at the same hospital
Ndiema and Cheptegei reportedly quarrelled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya.
Cheptegei, a marathon runner, competed at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack and finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, revealed that the body of his daughter will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
Soon after her death, The mayor of Paris announced that the city would honour Cheptegei by naming a sports venue after her.
Rebecca Cheptegei is the fourth female athlete to die at the hands of her partner in Kenya in recent years. Gender-based violence has been on the rise in the African country. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
