When the Ugandan Olympian Returned from the Games, Her Boyfriend Lit Her on Fire
According to police, a Ugandan athlete who was living in Kenya when her boyfriend set her on fire is presently undergoing treatment for 75% of her burn injuries.
Attacked in her home in western Trans Nzoia County, Rebecca Cheptegei is a distance runner who placed 44th in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Following a Sunday argument, Dickson Ndiema, Cheptegei’s lover, purchased a jerrican of gasoline, poured it on her, and lit her flame, according to a statement made on Monday by Trans Nzoia County Police Commander Jeremiah ole Kosiom.
Ndiema also had burn injuries, and in the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret city, the two are getting specialist care.
Cheptegei’s parents said their daughter purchased land in Trans Nzoia so she could be close to the several sports training facilities in the county.
Before the fire started, the couple was heard fighting over the land where the house was erected, according to a report submitted by the local chief.
Olympic steeplechaser and runner Benjamin Kiplagat of Uganda was discovered dead from stab wounds in 2023. Athlete Damaris Muthee, a Bahraini native born in Kenya, was discovered dead in 2022, and a postmortem examination indicated that she had been strangled.
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