Alleged killer of Ugandan Olympian dies from burns
REUTERS- The man accused of dousing in petrol and setting alight Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei has died from burns sustained during the fatal attack on the Ugandan athlete, a hospital official said on Tuesday.
Cheptegei, 33, who competed in the marathon at the Paris Olympics, suffered burns to more than 75% of her body in the Sept. 1 attack and died four days later.
Her former boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, died at 6.30 p.m. (11.30 a.m. ET) on Monday, said Philip Kirwa, chief executive officer of the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret in western Kenya where Marangach was being treated and where Cheptegei also died.
“He developed respiratory failure as a result of the severe airway burns and sepsis that led to his eventual death,” Kirwa said in a statement.
Kirwa said Marangach had suffered over 41% burns following his assault on Cheptegei, which local media reported to have happened after she returned home from church with her children.
Cheptegei, who finished 44th in Paris, is the third elite sportswoman to be killed in Kenya since October 2021. Her death has put the spotlight on domestic violence in the East African country, particularly within its running community.
“This guy is dead because he killed my daughter. He has died because of his actions,” Cheptegei’s father, Joseph Cheptegei, told Reuters.