Ugandan Olympic athlete set on fire by her boyfriend

3 September 2024, 11:14

A woman running on the road
Kenya Athlete Burned. Picture: PA

Rebecca Cheptegei was attacked in her house in western Trans Nzoia in Kenya.

A Ugandan athlete living in Kenya was set on fire by her boyfriend and is receiving treatment for 75% burns, police said.

Rebecca Cheptegei, a distance runner who finished 44th in the marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympics, was attacked in her house in western Trans Nzoia County.

Trans Nzoia police commander Jeremiah ole Kosiom said that Cheptegei’s boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema, bought a can of petrol, poured it on her and set her on fire during a disagreement on Sunday.

Ndiema also sustained burn wounds, and both are receiving specialised treatment at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret city.

Cheptegei’s parents said their daughter bought land in Trans Nzoia to be near the county’s many athletic training centres.

A report filed by the local chief says the couple were heard fighting over the land where the house was built, before the fire started.

In 2023, Ugandan Olympic runner and steeplechaser Benjamin Kiplagat was found dead with stab wounds.

In 2022, Kenyan-born Bahraini athlete Damaris Muthee was found dead, and a post-mortem examination said she had been strangled.

By Press Association

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

People pay tribute outside a church near the Christmas market where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening in Magdeburg

Nine-year-old among five killed in Germany Christmas market attack

German market

Death toll rises to five after car driven into Christmas market in Germany

APTOPIX Congress Budget

US Senate passes government funding bill to avoid shutdown

Blake Lively has sued her It Ends With Us co-star.

Blake Lively sues It Ends With Us star Justin Baldoni for sexual harassment

Former Syrian soldiers

Ex-Syrian soldiers report to new rulers in hope of amnesty

Pope Francis

Pope Francis reprimands Vatican staff for gossiping

Tesla Cybertrucks

Tesla recalls almost 700,000 vehicles due to tyre warning light problem

Israel Mideast Tensions Yemen

16 injured after rocket fired from Yemen hits Tel Aviv

Five Dead And Dozens Injured After Car Plows Into Magdeburg Christmas Market

Nine-year-old among five confirmed dead after more than 200 injured in Christmas market attack as suspect named

Forensic officers work on a damaged car

Germany mourns victims after BMW driven into Christmas market

Local officials look at damage in Kazan

Ukrainian drones target Russian city 600 miles from the front line

At Least Two Dead And Dozens Injured After Car Plows Into Magdeburg Christmas Market

Everything we know about Germany Christmas market attack and arrested Saudi doctor so far

At least two people including a toddler have died and 68 more have been injured after a car ploughed into a crowd at a Christmas market in Germany.

Number of deaths could continue to rise, official warns, after car ploughs into crowd at Christmas market killing four

Emergency services at the Christmas market in Magdeburg

At least two people dead after car driven into crowd at German Christmas market

People play in the water at Ulee Lheue beach which was one of the areas hardest hit by Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, in Banda Aceh

Indonesians mark two decades since Boxing Day tsunami

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Mike Johnson

US Congress passes bill to avoid government shutdown