Olympic Marathon Runner Set On Fire By Boyfriend In Horrifying Attack, According To Police

Rebecca Cheptegei, an Olympic marathon runner who competed for Uganda in Paris, was reportedly attacked and then set on fire by her boyfriend during an argument.

The 33-year-old made her Olympic debut during last month's marathon in the Summer Games where she finished 44th.

Cheptegei, who lives in Kenya, was attacked in her house in the western Trans Nzoia County in East Africa. Police Commander Jeremiah Ole Kosiom said on Monday that Cheptegei’s boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema, bought a jerrican of petrol, poured it on her and set her on fire. She was receiving treatment for burns on 75% of her body, police said, with Ndiema also sustaining burn wounds in the incident.

The police report noted that the couple had been overheard fighting over land where the house they were in was built.

"The couple were heard quarrelling outside their house. During the altercation, the boyfriend was seen pouring a liquid on the woman before burning her," Koisom said, via BBC.

Cheptegei won the Padova Marathon in 2022 and finished runner-up in the 10,000-meter race at the Ugandan Championships.

CBS News noted that this attack is just the latest incident of gender-based violence in Kenya.

A report by the Kenyan Bureau of National Statistics published in January 2023 found that 34 percent of women in the country have experienced physical violence since the age of 15.

It said women who had "been married are much more likely to have experienced violence", with 41 percent of such women reporting incidents compared to 20 percent of unmarried women.

Kenyan-born athlete Damaris Mutua was found dead in Iten, a world-famous running hub in the Rift Valley in the western part of the country.