Funeral begins for Ugandan Olympic athlete killed by ex-boyfriend

 

Funeral services have begun in Uganda for Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who was set on fire by her ex-boyfriend and later died.

Dickson Ndiema attacked her with petrol just under a fortnight ago outside her home in neighbouring north-western Kenya, close to where she trained.

The murder of the 33-year-old and its brutal nature has left her family shocked and shocked many others around the world.

She highlighted the high levels of violence against women in Kenya and the fact that several female athletes have been victims of violence in recent years.

Cheptegei will receive full military honours at the ceremony in Uganda, having served in that country’s armed forces.

Saturday’s program began with a commemorative ceremony held by local leaders in Bukwo, Cheptegei’s home district.

They observed a minute of silence and gave a standing ovation as they paid tribute to the late athlete.

Advisers said Cheptegei lived a “simple and focused life” and always offered guidance to his fellow athletes. “He inspired many local children to join athletics,” one said.

They also proposed naming a street and a local sports facility in his honor.

His burial is scheduled for Saturday evening at his father’s nearby farm.

Cheptegei died in hospital four days after the attack. Doctors said he had burns to more than 80 percent of his body that “led to multiple organ failure.”

Ndiema, who also suffered burns when some of the fuel spilled on him, died on Monday.

He attacked the mother of two after she returned from a service at a church, God’s Dwelling Ministry.

Local pastor Caroline Atieno remembers a “wonderful person… God-fearing.”

After learning what had happened, he was able to speak to Cheptegei on the phone while he was in the hospital.

The athlete first asked about his children, who were both fine, the pastor told the BBC’s Africa Daily podcast.

Then Cheptegei spoke about his attacker: “You mean Dickson is unable to see everything I have done for him? He couldn’t even remember one or two things I did for him and stop setting me on fire? Why did he do this to me?”

The funeral will be held in Bukwo, where his family lives in Uganda, near the border with Kenya.

On Friday, family, friends and activists against gender violence viewed her coffin at a funeral home in the Kenyan city of Eldoret before it was taken away.
Her mother, Agnes Cheptegei, covers her face in anguish and wears a souvenir bag that the athlete received at the recent Paris Olympics, where she placed 44th in the marathon.

She was wearing a T-shirt with the slogan “Being a woman shouldn’t be a death sentence” printed on it.

The mother of two was the third female athlete to be killed in Kenya in the past three years. In each case, current or former partners have been named by police as the prime suspects.

In 2021, world record holder Agnes Tirop was stabbed to death, and six months later Damaris Mutua was strangled.

Attacks on women have become a major concern in Kenya. In 2022, at least 34 percent of women reported experiencing physical violence, according to a national survey.
Some observers say female athletes are becoming increasingly vulnerable.

“[This is] because they go against traditional gender norms, where the woman is just in the kitchen, cooking and taking care of the kids. But now female athletes are becoming more independent, financially independent,” said Joan Chelimo, who co-founded Tirop’s Angels to help highlight the issue of violence against women.

“We don’t want this to happen to any other woman, whether she’s an athlete or a village girl,” Rachel Kamweru, a spokeswoman for the government’s department of gender and affirmative action, told the BBC.

When Cheptegei started running in 2008, she joined the Uganda People’s Defence Forces, who supported her.

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Her last competition was at the Paris Olympics. Although she placed 44th, people in her home area still called her “champion.”

He won gold at the 2022 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand. [BBC]

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