The ex-boyfriend of Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei, who was accused of murder by dousing her with petrol and setting her on fire, died from burns received in the attack, according to iNews.
Cheptegei, 33, a Ugandan marathon runner who competed in her first Olympic Games in Paris last month, suffered burns over 75 per cent of her body during the attack on 1 September. She died four days later at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, Kenya.
According to Daniel Lang’at, a spokesman for the hospital, her alleged killer, Dickson Ndiema, died on Monday at the intensive care unit of the same hospital. The police had earlier said he was admitted to the hospital with 30 per cent burns.
He died from his injuries, the burns he sustained.
Last week, Trans Nzoia District Police Commander Jeremiah ole Kosiom stated that Ndiema bought a canister of petrol, poured it on Cheptegei and set her ablaze during an argument. A report filed by the local headman revealed that before the attack, the two were heard quarrelling over the land on which her house was built.
Cheptegei would be buried on Saturday in Uganda, Kenyan media reported.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said on Friday that the French capital would name a sports venue after Cheptegei, who finished 44th in her debut Olympic marathon.
She was the third elite athlete to be killed in Kenya since October 2021. Her death sparked calls for stronger action against domestic violence in the country.
