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The funeral of Ugandan Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who died in Kenya after being set on fire by her boyfriend, will be held in her home country on September 14, organizers announced Sunday.
The 33-year-old, who competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics last month, died of severe burns on Thursday, four days after she was doused in petrol and set alight at her home in western Kenya.
“The burial date for Rebecca Cheptegei has been set for September 14 in Kongasis sub-county, Bukwo district (eastern Uganda),” Beatrice Ayikoru, secretary general of the Uganda Olympic Committee and a member of the funeral organising committee, told AFP.
Bukwo is the location of Cheptegei’s family home and lies on the border with Kenya, about 380 kilometres (240 miles) northeast of the Ugandan capital Kampala.
Cheptegei’s death was met with anger and sadness, the latest horrific act of gender-based violence in Kenya where at least two other athletes have lost their lives at the hands of their partners.
Doctors said she suffered burns to more than 80 percent of her body after the attack last Sunday.
Police say the attack was carried out by Cheptegei’s Kenyan partner, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, who also suffered serious burns and is being treated in hospital.
Kenyan media reported that Cheptegei’s children, aged nine and 11, witnessed the attack.
– “Unthinkable circumstances” –
The city of Paris announced Friday that it would honor Cheptegei, who placed 44th in her first Olympic marathon in August, by naming a sports venue after her.
Tributes have poured in for the runner, who was Uganda’s women’s marathon record holder and also served in the Uganda People’s Defence Forces, holding the rank of sergeant.
“Our sport has lost a talented athlete in the most tragic and unthinkable circumstances,” said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe.
“Rebecca was an incredibly versatile runner who still had a lot to give on the roads, mountains and cross-country trails.”
Coe said he was in discussions with World Athletics board members “to assess how our safeguarding policies could be enhanced to include abuse outside of sport, and to bring together stakeholders from all areas of athletics to combine forces to protect our female athletes to the best of our ability from abuse of all kinds.”
Cheptegei’s death has shone a spotlight on domestic violence and femicide in Kenya, with Sports Minister Kipchumba Murkomen saying it was a “stark reminder” that more needed to be done to combat gender-based violence.
The United Nations also condemned her “brutal murder”, with Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, saying: “Gender-based violence is one of the most widespread human rights violations in the world and must be treated as such.”
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