by Nurat Uthman
The funeral for Ugandan Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who died in Kenya after being set on fire by her boyfriend, will be held on September 14 in her home country, organisers said on Sunday.
The 33-year-old, who competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics last month, succumbed to severe burns on Thursday, four days after being doused with petrol and set alight at her home in western Kenya.
“The burial date of Rebecca Cheptegei has been set for September 14, in Kongasis sub-county in Bukwo district (eastern Uganda),” Beatrice Ayikoru, secretary general of the Uganda Olympic Committee and a member of the funeral organising committee, told AFP.
Bukwo is the location of Cheptegei’s family home and lies on the border with Kenya about 380 kilometres (240 miles) northeast of the Ugandan capital Kampala.
Cheptegei’s death was greeted with anger and sorrow, the latest horrific act of gender-based violence in Kenya where at least two other athletes have lost their lives at the hands of their partners.
Doctors said she had suffered burns to more than 80 per cent of her body after the attack on Sunday last week.
Police say it was carried out by Cheptegei’s Kenyan partner, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, who also suffered serious burns and is being treated in hospital.
Kenyan media said Cheptegei’s children, aged nine and 11, had witnessed the attack.
