The man who attacked Ugandan Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei has died from injuries sustained during the horrific incident, the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Eldoret, Kenya, confirmed on Tuesday. Dickson Ndiema Marangach, who assaulted Cheptegei on September 1st, succumbed to his injuries after suffering 30 percent burns during the attack.
Rebecca Cheptegei, a mother of two and an Olympic marathoner, sustained 80 percent burns in the attack and tragically passed away last week. The brutal incident occurred at her home in Endebess, western Kenya, near the Ugandan border. Cheptegei had recently competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics, where she finished 44th.
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According to police reports, Marangach snuck into Cheptegei's home while she was at church with her daughters, doused her in petrol, and set her on fire. Cheptegei's father, Joseph Cheptegei, revealed that Marangach had hidden in a chicken coop before launching the deadly attack. He had been involved in a property dispute with Cheptegei, which is believed to have escalated into the fatal assault.
The attack has sparked widespread sorrow and outrage, highlighting the persistent issue of gender-based violence in Kenya. Cheptegei’s death adds to the alarming number of femicide cases in the country, which recorded 72
5 such incidents in 2022 alone, according to the United Nations. A 2023 report by Kenya's National Bureau of Statistics revealed that 34 percent of women had experienced physical violence since the age of 15.
Cheptegei’s tragic demise follows the deaths of other prominent athletes, including Kenyan runner Agnes Tirop in 2021 and Kenyan-born Bahrain athlete Damaris Mutua in 2022, both of whom were killed by their partners.
Rebecca Cheptegei is set to be buried on September 14th near her family home in eastern Uganda, according to the Ugandan Olympic Committee. The loss of such a talented athlete has left the sporting community and the public in deep mourning, as they call for stronger measures to combat gender-based violence in the region.
