The ex-boyfriend of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who was accused of killing her by setting her on fire — has died of burns sustained during the alleged attack, the hospital treating him said Tuesday.
Police in Trans-Nzoia County said Ndiema set Cheptegei on fire Sept. 1 in a violent attack weeks after the 33-year-old distance runner competed at the Paris Olympics, finishing 44th in women’s marathon.
Her death, at the same hospital days after the alleged attack, shocked the world and put a spotlight on domestic violence against women and female athletes in Kenya, where Cheptegei was based.
“We were waiting for him to recover for him to be charged” for murder, Apindi told The Post, adding that Ndiema was also under investigation in an ownership dispute with Cheptegei over land and a house.
Cheptegei’s father told The Post in a previous interview that Ndiema set her on fire in front of her daughters. He said Cheptegei had previously reported Ndiema for domestic violence, but police were slow to take action.
Cheptegei sustained burns on about 80 percent of her body in the attack, according to Kenyan news outlet the Star, and will be buried in Uganda on Saturday. Ndiema was burned on more than 40 percent of his body and died of respiratory failure caused by “severe airway burns” and sepsis, according to a report from the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital.
After Cheptegei’s death, the city of Paris said it planned to name a sports venue in her honor.
Cheptegei, who reportedly holds Uganda’s women’s marathon record and served as a sergeant in the Uganda People’s Defense Forces, moved to Kenya because of violence in her home area and bought land near the training grounds in Eldoret, known for producing Olympic champions.
But once in Kenya, she met a man who quickly tried to take control of her property and house, her father said. “Whenever Rebecca came with things or had things, he wanted to be the one that keeps or takes it away. That’s why they fought,” he told The Post. “Rebecca told me that the man wanted to take away her property.”
Cheptegei’s father said she broke up with Ndiema, but worries about his threats prevented her from performing as well as she could have in the Paris Olympics. He said that, on the day of the attack, Cheptegei returned home from church with her daughters, ages 9 and 11, and was doing house chores outside when Ndiema poured gasoline on her back and lit a fire.
Ndiema was born in western Kenya, and his mother, father and two brothers were killed during the post-election violence that rocked the country in 2007, said Simon Kiptoek, a friend and neighbor. “He was the only man remaining in his family,” he said. Four sisters survive him.
Kenya has a track record of producing top-tier runners, but rights groups say female athletes, who stand to gain a significant financial reward if they succeed in competitions, are vulnerable to abuse and attempts to gain control of their winnings.
The East African nation also struggles with gender-based violence and has a high incidence of domestic violence. Cheptegei is one of at least three female distance runners who have been killed in Kenya in alleged domestic violence over the past three years.
Onesimus Kipchumba Murkomen, Kenya’s sports cabinet secretary, said Cheptegei’s death was “a stark reminder that we must do more to combat gender-based violence in our society, which in recent years has reared its ugly head in elite sporting circles.”
On Sunday, Paris 2024 organizers paid tribute to Cheptegei, calling her “a victim of femicide” and asking the Paralympics audience at the Invalides venue in Paris to clap for her for one minute.
Frances Vinall and Glynn A. Hill contributed to this report.
