The first pictures of the ex-boyfriend accused of k!lling Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei have been revealed.
Cheptegei, 33, suffered horrendous burns to 80 per cent of her body in Sunday’s brutal attack that was reportedly carried out by Dickson Ndiema, according to medical officials.
She was rushed to the intensive care unit at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, Kenya, but the facility’s acting director Dr Owen Menach confirmed Cheptegei died late last night after all her organs failed.
The suspect himself is recovering from burn injuries he sustained in the attack.
Cheptegei has two children, aged nine and 11, who are fathered by a different man living in Uganda.
One of Cheptegei’s daughters is said to have witnessed the assault at her mother’s home. She told Kenya’s The Standard: ‘He kicked me while I tried to run to the rescue of my mother.
‘I immediately cried out for help, attracting a neighbour who tried to extinguish the flames with water, but it was not possible,’ added the girl, who has not been named.
Cheptegei’s father Joseph also described his daughter’s attacker as an ‘animal’ who tormented her for months before setting her ablaze.
Speaking earlier this week from hospital alongside his other daughter Evalyne Chelagat, Mr Cheptegei claimed that his daughter and Ndiema were fighting over her land at Endebes in Trans Nzoia shortly before the alleged attack occurred.
‘They were just friends and I wonder why he wanted to take away things belonging to my daughter,’ Cheptegei Snr told The Star.
Just hours before the Sunday ordeal, they were both reportedly appearing before the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Kitale over a land tussle.
‘I wish to state that my wounded daughter is married and her husband is in Uganda,’ Joseph told The Standard.
‘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.
‘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.’
Trans Nzoia County Police Commander Jeremiah Ole Kosiom confirmed that the athlete and the man had wrangles 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, Dickson, who had procured petrol, began pouring it on Rebecca before he set her a blaze,’ 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. At the scene a five litre yellow jerrican, a bag and a black marvin believed to be for Dickson and a burnt mobile phone believed to be for Rebecca was found and collected for forensic analysis,’ he added.
Mr Cheptegei also added that the marathon runner’s daughters, aged nine and 11, were at church at the time of the attack and were in agony under the care of their grandmother.
‘Her children are crying in the house after hearing about the attack. I have asked my wife to take care of them as we hope for my daughter’s recovery,’ he said.
The president of the Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) Donald Rukare said in a post on X today: ‘We have learnt of the sad passing on of our Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei… following a vicious attack by her boyfriend.
‘This was a cowardly and senseless act that has led to the loss of a great athlete. Her legacy will continue to endure,’ he added.
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