Funeral with military honors to bid farewell to murdered athlete Rebecca Cheptegei

Hundreds of people bid farewell to the Ugandan athlete on Saturday Rebecca Cheptegeiwho died the day before 5 in Kenya after her ex-boyfriend allegedly set her on fire during a funeral with military honors held Uganda.

The funeral of Cheptegei, 33 years old and a sergeant in the Ugandan Army, was held in the district of Bukwo (east), his ancestral home in eastern Uganda, near the Kenyan border.

Soldiers carried the athlete’s coffin, covered with the Ugandan flag, which was placed under a tent next to his picture and two wreaths.

Among other authorities, the Kenyan Minister of Sports, Onesimus Kipchumba Murkomen, and the Ugandan Deputy Minister of Sports, Peter Ogwang, were present.

“His death, which shook not only Uganda and the athletic community but the entire East African region, should shock our conscience to do more to end gender-based violence in sport, and we will ,” said Murkomen.

Also present were athletes such as Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei, Olympic 10,000 meter champion at the last Paris Games, where the deceased participated in the marathon event, where he finished in forty-fourth place.

The athlete wore a black polo shirt with Rebecca Cheptegei’s photo and the message “Say no to gender violence.”

Also in attendance were leaders of the Uganda Athletics Federation, which donated 10,259,000 Ugandan shillings (about 2,500 euros) to the marathon runner’s family.

The athlete was buried after the alleged perpetrator of his death, Kenyan Dickson Ndiema Maranganch, died on Monday at the Eldoret hospital (western Kenya) where he had been admitted since last week after allegedly setting the athlete on fire. of life and suffered severe self-immolation.

Maranganch, with whom Cheptegei had a romantic relationship and had been estranged for a long time, died at the same place where the athlete died, the Moi University and Reference Hospital in Eldoret, an athletics mecca in East Africa.

According to preliminary police investigations, Maranganch, who was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), doused Cheptegei with five liters of petrol and set it on fire after an argument at the athlete’s home in Trans-County, western Kenya.

Apparently, he entered the house on Sunday, September 1, when the athlete was with his two children – the result of his marriage to another man – to church and attacked him when he returned.

Cheptegei suffered burns on 80% of his body affecting his vital organs and Maranganch on 30%, according to the hospital.

According to his family, this is a case of sexist violence that could have been avoided if the Police had acted at the right time against the athlete’s alleged abuser.

“Government agencies failed us because we informed them in advance about his safety, because this man was following him even in Uganda, but they did not act immediately. It was clear that his life was in danger,” said runner’s father , Joseph Cheptegei.

The last complaint was filed just two days before the alleged attack in Maranganch, the father said.

According to the family, Rebecca Chepetgei and her former romantic partner then had a dispute over the ownership of the Trans-Nzoia house, during which Maranganch tried to evict the broker.

His death caused great distress and sparked protests of condemnation in Kenya and Uganda, in particular, but also in the rest of the world.

At least two other athletes, Agnes Tirop and Damaris Mutua, have died in incidents of gender-based violence in Kenya since 2021.