A Ugandan marathoner who competed at the Paris Olympics has been hospitalised in Kenya after allegedly being brutally attacked by her partner, Kenyan police said.
Long-distance runner Rebecca Cheptegei was assaulted after her Kenyan partner Dickson Ndiema Marangach reportedly snuck into her home in western Trans-Nzoia county on Sunday at around 2:00 pm while she and her children were at church, police said.
"Dickson, who had procured petrol, began pouring (it) on Rebecca before he set her ablaze," the police report said late Monday, adding the flames also wounded him.
It said that neighbours had rescued the pair and taken them to nearby Kitale County Referral Hospital where they were admitted with "multiple burns".
The police report did not mention if Cheptegei's children were hurt in the attack.
We regret to announce that our athlete Rebecca Cheptegei, who competed at the Olympics has suffered severe injuries and is hospitalized at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret. This follows an incident involving her Kenyan boyfriend pouring petrol and setting fire on her pic.twitter.com/rgnWvgTpkb
— Uganda Athletics Federation-UAF (@UgaAthletics2) September 3, 2024
Local media reports said that Cheptegei had been transferred to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), and that her parents were travelling from Uganda to visit her.
They said their daughter had bought land and built a house in the Trans-Nzoia area to train, according to local media.
The Ugandan athlete and Marangach, according to police, were a couple who "constantly had family wrangles".
Police said they are investigating the incident.
Cheptegei placed 44th in the marathon in Paris this summer.
In 2021 Kenya was horrified by the death of record-breaking runner Agnes Tirop, 25, found stabbed to death in her home.
Tirop's estranged husband Emmanuel Ibrahim Rotich went on trial over her murder in 2023. He has denied the charges. His trial is ongoing.
AFP