A Ugandan athlete living in Kenya is receiving treatment for 75 per cent burns after a man allegedly set her on fire, according to police.
Rebecca Cheptegei, a distance runner who finished 44th in the women’s marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympics, was reportedly attacked in her house in western Trans Nzoia County.
Trans Nzoia police commander Jeremiah Ole Kosiom said that Cheptegei's boyfriend bought a can of petrol, poured it on her and set her on fire during a disagreement on Sunday.
Ndiema was also said to have sustained burn wounds. Police say both are receiving specialised treatment at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret city.
The athlete was reported to be in a critical condition.
Speaking outside of hospital, the athlete’s father Joseph Cheptegei told reporters: “They were just friends and I wonder why he wanted to take away things belonging to my daughter.”He told Kenyan newspaper The Star that the Olympian has two children whose father is a different person living in Uganda.
Mr Cheptegei said the marathon runner’s daughters aged nine and 11, who were at church when the attack happened, were in agony and under the care their grandmother Agnes Ndiema, Kenyan newspaper The Standard reported.
“I wish to state that my wounded daughter is married and her husband is in Uganda. Her attacker was a friend they met in Kenya and my daughter trusted him. They fell out recently but the suspect sneaked into her compound on Sunday afternoon, armed with five litres of petrol and hid in a poultry house,” he claimed.
“Rebecca was outside the house when the suspect appeared and immediately poured petrol on her before lighting the fire. My daughter called for help by asking her sister who was in the home to bring a blanket to put off the fire but the suspect who was armed with a machete chased her away and Rebecca burnt.”The father went on to claim that Cheptegei and the suspect had a case which was being investigated by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Kenya.
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 pair were heard fighting over the land where the house was built, before the fire started.
The Trans Nzoia County Police Commander confirmed that the athlete and the man had been involved in a dispute over the plot in Kinyoro.
“The man is believed to have sneaked into the compound at around 2pm on Sunday while the woman and the children were in church. Upon returning, [the suspect] who had procured petrol, began pouring it on Rebecca before he set her a blaze,” Mr Kosiom claimed.
“The two were rescued by neighbours who put out the fire and rushed them to hospital at Kitale County Referral Hospital where they were attended to with multiple burns.”
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.
