The former boyfriend of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei, who was accused of setting her on fire, has died from burns sustained during the attack.
Rebecca Cheptegei, 33, died last week after suffering burns to about 80 per cent of her body. Her ex-partner, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, allegedly doused her in gasoline and set her ablaze over a land dispute. She had just recently competed in the marathon at the Paris Olympics.
Marangach succumbed to his own burn injuries on Monday, according to the Kenyan hospital where he was being treated. About 30 per cent of his body suffered burns after some of the gasoline used in the attack splashed on him, and he was also set on fire, local media reported.
The attack happened on Sept. 1 in western Trans Nzoia County, where Cheptegei lived near the Kenya-Uganda border. Marangach allegedly ambushed his former girlfriend in her house after she returned home from church with her children. It’s believed he snuck into Cheptegei’s home with a five-litre jerry can of gasoline after the couple had a falling out over the Trans Nzoia property.
Marangach was the main suspect in Cheptegei’s murder inquiry, but now that he too has died, the criminal case has been dropped, and authorities will lead an inquest into the two deaths instead.
Cheptegei’s death has brought attention to domestic violence in the East African country, particularly within its running community. Rights groups say that female athletes in Kenya, where many international runners train in high-altitude highlands, are at high risk of exploitation and violence by men drawn to their prize money, which far exceeds local incomes.
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