Ugandan athlete Rebecca Cheptegei dies after boyfriend set her on fire

Ugandan Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei died on Thursday, days after she was doused in petrol and set on fire by her boyfriend in Kenya, in the latest attack on female athletes in the country.

Kenyan and Ugandan media reported that Cheptegei, who competed in the Paris Olympics, suffered burns to more than 75 per cent of her body in Sunday's attack, making her the third sportswoman to be killed in Kenya since October 2021.

The runner, who finished 44th in Paris, was admitted to a hospital in the Kenyan Rift Valley city of Eldoret after the attack.

Cheptegei "passed today morning at 5:30am after her organs failed," Owen Menach, senior director of clinical services at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, told Reuters, adding that a full report regarding the circumstances of her death would be released on Thursday afternoon.

We have learnt of the sad passing on of our Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei OLY following a vicious attack by her boyfriend. May her gentle soul rest in peace and we strongly condemn violence against women. This was a cowardly and senseless act that has led to the loss of a… pic.twitter.com/V8Mog3oMOX

— Donald Rukare (@drukare) September 5, 2024

Kenyan Sports Minister Kipchumba Murkomen described her death as a loss "to the entire region".

"This tragedy is a stark reminder that we must do more to combat gender-based violence in our society, which in recent years has reared its ugly head in elite sporting circles," he said in a statement.

Uganda's athletics federation called for justice for Cheptegei.

Peter Ogwang, Uganda's minister of state for sports, said Kenyan authorities were investigating the killing, which has shone a spotlight on violence experienced by women in the East African nation.

Nearly 34 per cent of Kenyan girls and women aged 15-49 years have suffered physical violence, according to government data from 2022, with married women at particular risk.

The 2022 survey found that 41 per cent of married women had faced violence.