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On September 10, UPI reported that the former partner accused of killing Olympic runner and Uganda-born athlete Rebecca Cheptegei by setting her on fire has also died from injuries sustained in the same incident.
Rebecca Cheptegei, seen here competing in the Women’s Marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in August 2023, was allegedly attacked by Dickson Ndiema Marangach. Marangach succumbed to his injuries on Monday evening at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, Kenya, where Cheptegei had also passed away earlier last week.
Marangach, 32, died from burns covering 40% of his body, which eventually led to respiratory failure due to severe airway burns, according to a hospital statement given to The New York Times. Authorities had intended to charge Marangach with murder, as police reported he doused Cheptegei with gasoline, which also burned him in the ensuing fire.
The attack left Cheptegei with burns on 80% of her body. Her family has called for justice and legal action against Marangach. A tribute was held for Cheptegei in Paris on Sunday by the organizers of the Paralympic Games following its marathon event.
Cheptegei, 33, finished 44th in the marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympics and had previously won gold at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Thailand two years prior. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced that a sports venue would be named in Cheptegei’s honor, stating, “Paris will not forget her.”
She was attacked after returning home from church with her two children. A local administrator in Trans Nzoia County said the couple had been fighting over a piece of land Cheptegei had purchased to build her house. During an altercation, Marangach reportedly poured a liquid on her before setting her on fire, according to local police chief Jeremiah Ole Kosiom.
In recent years, other Kenyan athletes have also fallen victim to femicide, with rising violence against women a significant concern. Last year, Ugandan Olympic runner Benjamin Kiplagat was stabbed to death in Eldoret, and Kenyan-born Bahraini runner Damaris Mutua was found strangled in Iten, Kenya, in 2022. Similarly, record-breaking runner Agnes Tirop was found murdered by her husband in Iten.
Kenya Sports Minister Kipchumba Murkomen emphasized the need to address gender-based violence, noting that elite sportswomen are increasingly becoming victims. The 2022 U.N. report indicated Africa had the highest rate of gender-based violence and femicide, estimating 20,000 women were killed in that year alone.
Uganda’s Olympic Committee’s Donald Rukare recently stated, “May [Cheptegei’s] gentle soul rest in peace. We strongly condemn violence against women.
This was a cowardly and senseless act that has led to the loss of a great athlete. Her legacy will continue to endure.”