STORY: Ugandan Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei was laid to rest in her hometown of Bukwo, on Saturday.
The 33-year-old died after allegedly being doused in petrol and set alight by her former partner in the Kenyan village where she was living…
just three weeks after returning from a 44th place finish at the Paris Olympic Games.
She was given a burial with full military honours.
As a brass band played at her funeral, soldiers from the Uganda’s People’s Defence Forces acted as pall bearers.
With the local community watching on, her father Joseph Cheptegei expressed his love for his daughter, saying
she was a polite girl and he loved her so much.
Cheptegei’s tragic death sparked anger over the high levels of violence against women in Kenya.
Government data from 2022 shows one in three Kenyan females aged 15 to 49 have suffered physical violence.
Kenya’s Sports Minister Kipchumba Murkomen addressed the issue of domestic violence at the funeral.
“We are guilty as government, but also the community is guilty. Let us say the truth. It is not true that we did not know even in the local community that Rebecca was facing family problems.”
Cheptegei is the third elite runner to allegedly die at the hands of a romantic partner in Kenya since 2021.
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