Ugandan marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics, is in critical condition with burns over more than 75% of her body after her alleged boyfriend poured gasoline on her. The attack, described as a domestic dispute by police, also resulted in burns to the boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema Marangach. Cheptegei is currently being treated in the intensive care unit at a hospital in Kenya, where she also sustained external and inhalation burns. The incident occurred at Cheptegei’s home in western Kenya, where Marangach had snuck in and set her ablaze with petrol. The couple had been separated and were involved in a land dispute, with Marangach trying to take over a plot of land owned by Cheptegei. They were about to appear before the Directorate of Criminal Investigations in Kenya before the attack occurred.
This incident is the latest in a series of tragedies involving Ugandan athletes in Kenya. Other incidents include the fatal stabbing of Olympian Benjamin Kiplagat and the strangling of distance runner Damaris Muthee in 2022. Another female athlete, Olympian Agnes Tirop, was stabbed to death in the same town just six months earlier. Police are continuing to investigate the attack on Cheptegei and Marangach, with neighbors being credited with rescuing them and rushing them to the hospital. Police discovered a gas can and a burnt mobile phone at the scene of the attack.
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