Wat-Not Staff
According to a Kenyan medical official, the former boyfriend of Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei from Uganda, who killed her by setting her on fire, passed away from burns he received in the attack. More than a week ago, Dickson Ndiema assaulted the marathon runner as she was walking home from church. After that, he doused her in gasoline and lit her on fire.
He died from the burns sustained in the attack
According to local administration, Cheptegei lived and trained on a small plot of land in northwest Kenya, which was the source of their disagreement. Ndiema passed away on Monday night in the hospital’s intensive care unit, where the hospital reports he was hospitalized with burns covering over 40% of his body.
According to a news release from Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, “He developed respiratory failure as a result of the severe airway burns and sepsis that led to his eventual death on Monday evening at 18:30 hours [15:30 GMT] despite life-saving measures.” Last Thursday, Cheptegei passed away—four days following her attack. Over 80 percent of her body was burned. On the day of the incident, neighbors claimed to have heard screaming before Cheptegei ran over to them, yelling for assistance.
According to local media, Ndiema broke into Cheptegei’s house in Trans Nzoia county, western Kenya, by stealthily carrying a five-liter jerry can filled with gasoline. Reports state that some of the fuel he threw on Cheptegei spilled over onto him. Ndiema consequently set his former girlfriend on fire and became entangled in the flames. Police indicated that they were treating Cheptegei’s death as murder and that Ndiema will be charged, with the former boyfriend being the primary suspect.
The recent deaths of female athletes is concerning
However, the criminal prosecution has been dismissed in light of Ndiema’s passing, and an inquest into the two fatalities will now take place. Prior to their demise, Ndiema and Cheptegei were both hospitalized at Moi Hospital. People all throughout the world were shocked to learn about Cheptegei’s passing; other Ugandans expressed their inspiration for her.
In the previous three years, Kenya has seen the deaths of three female athletes, including the 33-year-old Olympian. Police identified current or past love partners as the primary suspects in each case. Agnes Tirop, the holder of the world record, was fatally stabbed in 2021, and Damaris Mutua was strangled six months later.
“I don’t wish bad things on anyone, but of course I would have loved for him to face the law as an example for others so that these attacks on women can stop,” Uganda Olympic Committee secretary-general Beatrice Ayikoru said to Reuters news agency. According to some analysts, female athletes are growing more and more exposed.
“This is because they defy the stereotype that women should only be in the kitchen cooking and tending to the children.” However, female athletes are now becoming more self-sufficient, both materially and emotionally, according to Joan Chelimo, who co-founded Tirop’s Angels in order to raise awareness of the problem of violence against women.
Cheptegei was a promising athlete with dreams
Cheptegei was born in Kenya, but after failing to succeed in Kenya, she decided to become a representative for Uganda and follow her dream of becoming an athlete. She enlisted in the Uganda People’s Defence Forces in 2008 and advanced to sergeant status when she first started running.
She participated in the Olympics in Paris this year as part of her career. People in her hometown referred to her as “champion” even though she finished the marathon in 44th place. At the 2022 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand, she also took home the gold medal. At her ancestral home in Bukwo, Uganda, Cheptegei is scheduled to be buried this coming Saturday.
In Kenya, attacks on women have grown to be a serious problem. In 2022, a nationwide poll revealed that at least 34% of women reported having been victims of physical abuse. A representative for the government’s department of gender and affirmative action, Rachel Kamweru, told the BBC, “We don’t want this to happen to any other woman, whether an athlete or from the village, or a young girl.”
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