Ugandan Olympian in intensive care after partner 'set her on fire'

NEWS WIRES

3 September 2024 at 5:41 am·2-min read

Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei was in intensive care in Kenya on Tuesday after she was doused with petrol and set on fire allegedly by her partner in the latest horrific case of gender-based violence in the East African country.

Rebecca Cheptegei, a Ugandan athlete living in Kenya, was receiving treatment for burns on 80 percent of her body on Tuesday after she was attacked at her home and set on fire, police said.

The long-distance runner was assaulted after her Kenyan boyfriend Dickson Ndiema Marangach reportedly snuck into her home in Endebess in the western county of Trans-Nzoia at around 2:00 pm on Sunday, while she and her children were at church.

The attack took place just three weeks after the 33-year-old took part in the women's marathon at the Paris Olympics, where she placed 44th.

"Dickson, who had procured petrol, began pouring (it) on Rebecca before he set her ablaze," a police report said Monday, adding that he was also injured by the flames.

It said that neighbours had put out the fire and taken the pair to nearby Kitale County Referral Hospital where they were admitted with "multiple burns".

They were later transferred to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in the Rift Valley city of Eldoret, where Cheptegei was admitted to the intensive care unit on Monday.

Fighting to save her life

"She sustained more than 80 percent burns in the attack," the hospital's acting CEO Owen Menach told reporters.

"The burns were really, really severe, some of them are really deep especially right to the muscles in the back," he said.

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Fighting to save her life

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