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Ugandan athlete set on fire by her boyfriend: police

By AAP Newswire

Sep 3, 2024

Rebecca Cheptegei of Uganda — Uganda's Rebecca Cheptegei finished 44th in the marathon at the Paris Olympics. -AP

A Ugandan athlete living in Kenya has been set ablaze by her boyfriend and is receiving treatment for burns to 75 per cent of her body, police say.

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Rebecca Cheptegei, a distance runner who finished 44th in the marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympics, was attacked in her house in the western Trans Nzoia County.

Trans Nzoia County Police Commander Jeremiah ole Kosiom said Cheptegei's boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema, bought a can of petrol, poured it on her and set her ablaze during a disagreement on Sunday.Â

Ndiema also suffered burn wounds, and the two are receiving specialised treatment at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret city.

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 states the couple was heard fighting over the land where the house was built before the fire started.

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 with a autopsy report stating that she was strangled.

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By AAP Newswire

Australian Associated Press