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Rebecca Cheptegei

Reuters

Outside a modest home in the highlands of western Kenya, tears streamed down 17-year old Dorcas Cheptegei&#x27;s face as she held a collection of gleaming medals won by her sister Rebecca - an Olympic runner allegedly murdered by her ex-boyfriend. Nearby, a black duffel bag emblazoned with &#x27;Uganda&#x27; sat half-open, trophies and running gear spilling onto the lawn in a reminder of a life violently cut short.&quot;I saw her as my mother, my birth mother and parent because she did a lot for me as well as giving me good advice,&quot; Dorcas said, her voice barely above a whisper.On September 1, Rebecca Cheptegei, a 33-year-old single mother of two and Olympic marathon runner, was allegedly doused in petrol and set on fire by her former boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema Marangach. Both would die in hospital of their burns.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/9/5/olympian-dies-after-being-set-on-fire-by-boyfriend-1455">READ: Olympian dies after being set on fire by boyfriend</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/9/3/olympian-in-intensive-care-after-partner-set-her-on-fire-1747">READ: Ugandan Olympian in intensive care after partner &#x27;set her on fire&#x27;</a></div>Marangach could not be reached for comment before his death, and Reuters was unable independently to verify the details of what happened that day. A police official, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak to the media, confirmed Marangach had been under investigation for murder when he died.The land around Cheptegei&#x27;s home in the quiet village of Kinyoro bears witness to a grisly death. The ground is charred and moist with gasoline.Cheptegei suffered burns to 80% of her body. When she was hospitalized, her father said he could only recognize her voice. She died four days later.&quot;I recognized Rebecca by her hairstyle but her face was unrecognizable,&quot; Agnes Cheptegei, Rebecca&#x27;s mother, said, breaking down in tears. &quot;It is painful, my second-born.&quot;Cheptegei&#x27;s killing so soon after the athlete had competed for Uganda in the Paris Olympics shocked the world. But it was no surprise to Cheptegei or her family, her parents told Reuters.Their story sheds light on the dark side of success for female athletes in Kenya&#x27;s patriarchal society. Elite runners can earn more money in a single marathon than many Kenyans do in a year. They say their success frequently makes them targets for predatory men who try to manipulate them and wrest control of their assets.Cheptegei was the third female runner to be killed in Kenya since 2021, allegedly by romantic partners. She was due to be buried in Uganda&#x27;s Bukwo district on Saturday, according to the country&#x27;s athletics federation. Local media reported that the athlete, who was also a member of the Ugandan defense forces, would be buried with military honors.She had tried to protect herself.A 33-year-old single mother of two born in neighboring Uganda, she had walked out of the relationship with Marangach, managed her own money and was breadwinner for an extended family including her parents, a dozen siblings and her two daughters, aged 9 and 11, family members said.She had gone to police at least three times this year to report threats and physical abuse by Marangach, her father, Joseph, said.He shared with Reuters police slips confirming complaints she filed in February and May, in Kinyoro and the nearby town of Kitale.On her last morning alive, Cheptegei was preparing to go to church when Marangach called a friend of his to ask if he could borrow a lighter.He said he had &quot;an emergency&quot; and was heading out of town, the friend, retired runner Dennis Masai Chepkongin, told Reuters at his home in the Mount Elgon region, where Cheptegei lived. Hours later, Marangach doused Cheptegei in petrol and set her on fire, according to her family and police.Cheptegei&#x27;s killing left other female runners despairing at what they called the continuing inaction of the authorities and Athletics Kenya, the national governing body for the sport.Violence against women is a major problem in Kenya. One in three adolescent girls and women have been victims, according to government data from 2022.Femicide Count Kenya, an NGO that uses media reports to document intentional killings with a gender-related motivation, has recorded 157 killings of women so far in 2024 -- the most in a year since it began collecting data in 2019.Esther Chemtai, a 24-year-old fellow athlete of Cheptegei&#x27;s, said that when she was 18, she had also been in an abusive relationship with a man who wanted her to hand over all her earnings to him. When she refused, he beat her.&quot;They will not agree to break the relationship because you are the one providing everything, you pay the rent the land is registered under your name everything is in your name so they see that if you move from that relationship, they won&#x27;t have anything in his life,&quot; she said.Neither the local nor the national police responded to a request for comment on that point. Government spokesman Isaac Mwaura did not respond to Reuters&#x27; questions.NGOs have called for accountability not only from authorities, but from sports brands as well.&quot;Companies like Nike, Adidas, Puma and all those brands that these young athletes represent when they are junior to elite level should have some sort of mechanism on how to protect the girls,&quot; said Joan Chelimo, who co-founded Tirop&#x27;s Angels, a non-profit established to support domestic violence victims after Kenyan long-distance runner Agnes Tirop was stabbed to death in 2021.Tirop&#x27;s husband, Ibrahim Rotich, was charged with her murder. He pleaded not guilty and was released on bail last year. His case is ongoing and his lawyer declined to comment.Kenyan-Bahraini runner Damaris Mutua was also killed in 2022. Her Ethiopian boyfriend was named as a suspect. The Kenyan police say he fled Kenya.Cheptegei ended the relationship with Marangach in January, her father said. Marangach beat her up, broke her phone and sent men to try to intimidate her into handing over her land and house, he alleged.Chepkongin and Samwel Kibet, another friend of Marangach, said he did not heed their advice to leave Cheptegei alone.Cheptegei went to the police on Friday, Aug. 30. The officers told her to return the following Monday, according to her father, who was with her, and Chepkongin.The local police official said officers saw the problem as a conflict about land after the relationship soured, adding that police thought they had &quot;made peace&quot; between the two. But with Cheptegei and her family at church that Sunday morning, Marangach climbed over her land&#x27;s barbed wire wall and hid inside the chicken coop until she returned, her father said, citing an account by her sister Dorcas.Marangach attacked Rebecca and lunged at Dorcas with a machete when she tried to intervene, Joseph Cheptegei said. Their efforts would prove futile, and four days later, Rebecca was dead.For Cheptegei&#x27;s family, in mourning at their homestead an hour&#x27;s drive from Rebecca&#x27;s home, anger was matched by the depth of their loss.&quot;Rebecca asked that I look for a two-acre piece of land for her to buy, I was searching for one, but her death has halted that,&quot; Joseph Cheptegei said, his voice heavy with grief and unfulfilled dreams.<div>(Production: Jefferson Kahinju, Ammu Kannampilly, Mukelwa Hlatshwayo)</div>

Cheptegei's killing so soon after the athlete had competed for Uganda in the Paris Olympics shocked the world.

Cheptegei's killing so soon after the athlete had competed for Uganda in the Paris Olympics shocked the world.

Olympic runner Cheptegei defied her violent ex. She lost her life anyway

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Olympic runner Cheptegei defied her violent ex. She lost her life anyway

Reuters

Published Sep 14, 2024 09:12 PM PHT

Read More:

Uganda

Rebecca Cheptegei

gender-based violence

violence against women

Dickson Ndiema Marangach

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