Rebecca Cheptegei a marathon runner and an Olympian from Uganda has been admitted with burns over 75 per cent over her body. She was taken to the hospital and is in critical condition after getting doused with petrol and set on fire by her boyfriend Daniel Ndiema Marangach. The incident occurred at her home in Endebess in Western Kenya. In the incident, her partner also sustained several injuries and both are undergoing treatment for severe burns at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret.
Trans Nzoia county police commander Jeremiah Ole Kosiom told The Star newspaper that Cheptegei’s boyfriend, was also burnt in the attack, described as a domestic dispute.
According to the media reports the incident took place when Cheptegei returned home from church. The local police chief Jeremiah Ole Kosiom and her neighbors rescued her after hearing the quarrel outside the house during which he was attacked and doused with petrol.
Cheptegei has shifted to Trans Nazoia County in Kenya which is near its athletic training centers, she is originally from the region just across the border in Uganda. The media reports stated that, Police thought that the quarrel was going over the piece of land on which the house was built.
Rebecca Cheptegei recently participated in a marathon at the Paris Olympics securing the 44th position. She was a gold medalist in the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships held in Chiang Mai Thailand in 2022. Violence against women is on the rise on April 2022 Damaris Mutua a runner was found strangled with a pillow on her face in Iten, Rift Valley. A few months back Agnes Tirop a long-distance runner was stabbed to death. In both cases, their partners were the main suspect
(with inputs from Reuters)