A Kenyan court has sentenced two citizens of this country to 35 years in prison each for the murder of Ugandan athlete Benjamin Kiplagat on December 31, local media reported this Wednesday.
Eldoret High Court (West) This Tuesday, Peter Ushuru Khalumi, 30, and David Ekai Lokere, 25, were sentenced.for crime.
“The scientific evidence presented to my court during the trial places both of you at the scene of the brutal killing on the night of December 31, 2023, at Kimumu Estate, on the outskirts of Eldoret town,” Judge Reuben Nyakundi ruled .
“I just hope the family (athlete) finds comfort in the court’s decision and has the courage to move forward.“said Nyakundi, quoted by the local press.
The magistrate pointed out that the two convicts followed Kiplagat, who was traveling in his car, and images from security cameras showed that they killed him in a premeditated act.
The exact motive for the killing is not entirely clear, but at the time of the arrest the Police said it was a robbery.
Kiplagat, 34 years old and has represented his country for almost two decades of career where he specialized in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, He was found in his car on the night of December 31, 2023 after being stabbed.
According to Kenyan media, the vehicle was on the road that connects the city of Eldoret and the town of Iten, where Kiplagat trains.
Many runners used to grow up in that area and, in fact, athletes from all over the region train in Iten.
The Ugandan athlete won a silver medal in the 3,000 meters hurdles at the XII World Junior Athletics Championships held in 2008 in Poland and achieved bronze at the XVIII African Athletics Championships in 2012, in Benin, in addition to representing Uganda at several Olympic Games and others. competitions.
The crime occurred two years after the killing in October 2021 at the age of 25 of Kenyan athlete Agnes Jebet Tirop, the women’s 10-kilometer road record holder and 5,000-meter specialist.
On October 13 of that year, the Police found Tirop’s lifeless body after being stabbed inside her house in Iten, events in which her husband Ibrahim Rotich was declared the main suspect.
Rotich, who was charged with murder and pleaded not guilty, was released on bail in November 2023 after two years in preventive detention and is awaiting the start of the trial.
Tirop’s killing brought attention to the many documented cases of sexist violence against Kenyan athletes.
Source: La Verdad
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