Olympic marathon runner killed by ex-boyfriend to be buried

Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who was set on fire by her ex-boyfriend and later died, has been buried at her father’s home in eastern Uganda.

As she was also a member of the Ugandan armed forces, soldiers carried her coffin and she was saluted with three rounds of gunfire.

Dickson Ndiema attacked Cheptegei with petrol less than two weeks ago outside her home in northwestern Kenya, near where she trained.

The 33-year-old woman’s murder and its brutal nature have left her family heartbroken and shocked many others around the world.

It highlights the high levels of violence against women in Kenya and the fact that several female athletes have been victims in recent years.

Among those attending the solemn and emotional funeral at a schoolyard in Bukwo, Cheptegei’s hometown, were fellow athletes wearing black T-shirts bearing the slogan “say no to gender-based violence”.

“We are guilty as [a] “It is not just the government but the whole community that is guilty,” Kenyan Sports and Youth Minister Kipchumba Murkomen told mourners.

“To be honest. It’s not true that even our local community didn’t know Rebecca was having family problems.”

Cheptegei and Ndiema are said to have been in dispute over a piece of land.

One of her teammates at the recent Paris Olympics, Stella Chesang, also spoke.

“It’s a really sad moment in Uganda… and all of us, the friends. As a group that went to Paris with Rebecca, we really felt it because… we were together, we enjoyed ourselves and it’s really sad,” she said.

The Olympic marathon – where she finished 44th – was Cheptegei’s final race.

Earlier, local leaders held a memorial service for her by displaying her coffin and draped it with the Ugandan flag.

They observed a minute of silence and stood up to applaud to pay their respects to the late athlete.

Councillors said Cheptegei lived a “simple and focused life” and mentored fellow athletes. “She inspired many children in the area to take up sports,” one said.

They also proposed naming a street and a local sports venue in her honor.

Cheptegei died in hospital four days after the attack. Doctors said she had suffered burns to more than 80% of her body, “leading to multiple organ failure”.

Ndiema, who also suffered burns from some of the fuel that was splashed on him, died on Monday.

He attacked the mother-of-two after she returned from a service at God’s Dwelling Ministry church.

The pastor there, Caroline Atieno, remembers a “wonderful man… God-fearing.”

After hearing about what happened, she tried to talk to Cheptegei on the phone while she was at the hospital.

The first athlete asked about her children, both were fine, the pastor said. BBC Africa Daily Podcast.

Cheptegei then said of her attacker: “You mean Dickson couldn’t see all the things I did for him? He couldn’t even remember one or two things I did for him and stop burning me? Why did he do that to me?”

On Friday, family members, friends and anti-gender violence activists paid their respects to her coffin at a funeral home in the Kenyan town of Eldoret, before it was taken away by car.

Her mother, Agnes Cheptegei, covered her face in anguish, carrying the souvenir bag the athlete received at the recent Olympics.

She wore a T-shirt with the slogan “Being a woman is not a death sentence” printed on it.

The mother of two is the third female athlete to be murdered in Kenya in the past three years. In each case, police have named current or former partners as prime suspects.

In 2021, world record holder Agnes Tirop was stabbed to death and six months later Damaris Mutua was strangled.

Attacks on women have become a major concern in Kenya. According to a national survey, in 2022, at least 34% of women said they had experienced physical violence.

Some observers say female athletes are becoming increasingly vulnerable.

“[This is] because they go against traditional gender norms where women are just in the kitchen, cooking and taking care of the children. But now, female athletes are becoming more independent, more financially independent,” said Joan Chelimo, co-founder of Tirop’s Angels to help highlight the issue of violence against women.

“We don’t want this to happen to any other woman, whether an athlete or a villager, or a young girl,” Rachel Kamweru, a spokeswoman for the government’s gender and positive action department, told the BBC.

When Cheptegei started running, she joined the Uganda People’s Defence Forces in 2008 and received support from them.

Her last race was at the Paris Olympics. Although she finished 44th, people back home still call her “the champion”.

She won gold at the World Trail Running and Mountaineering Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2022.