By Elias Biryabarema and Ammu Kannampilly
KAMPALA (Reuters) -Ugandan Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who died after allegedly being doused in petrol and set alight by her former accomplice, was buried Saturday with full army honours at her ancestral place in Uganda’s northeast.
Cheptegei, 33, returned to her dwelling within the highlands of western Kenya, an space in style with worldwide runners for its excessive altitude coaching amenities, after coming forty fourth within the marathon on the Paris Olympics on August 11.
It could be her ultimate race.
Three weeks later her former boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, allegedly attacked Cheptegei as she returned from church together with her two daughters and youthful sister within the village of Kinyoro, Kenya police and her household stated.
Her father Joseph Cheptegei informed Reuters that his daughter had approached police no less than 3 times to file complaints in opposition to Marangach, most lately on Aug. 30, two days earlier than the alleged assault by her former accomplice.
She suffered burns to 80% of her physique and succumbed to her accidents 4 days later.
“I don’t think I am going to make it,” she informed her father whereas being handled in hospital, he stated.
“If I die, just bury me at home in Uganda.”
A whole bunch of mourners, together with fellow Olympians from Uganda and Kenya, gathered for her funeral in Bukwo in Uganda’s northeast close to the border with Kenya.
In speeches she was fondly eulogised as a hero, a mom and sister, and afterwards her physique was lowered into her grave minutes after 5 p.m. (1200 GMT)
She was buried in full army honours, together with a gun salute by the Ugandan army of which she was a member.
“She embodied the admirable spirit of resilience, selflessness, generosity and hard work, which worked together to catapult her to international glory,” Kipchumba Murkomen, Kenya’s sports activities minister stated as he eulogised the athlete.
Her demise, he stated, had marked “a tragic end to a blossoming life.”
FEMALE ATHLETES AT RISK
Cheptegei’s demise sparked anger over the excessive ranges of violence in opposition to ladies in Kenya, significantly within the athletics group, with the marathoner turning into the third elite runner to allegedly die by the hands of a romantic accomplice since 2021.
One in three Kenyan women or ladies aged 15-49 have suffered bodily violence, based on authorities information from 2022.
Rights teams say feminine athletes in Kenya are at a excessive threat of exploitation and violence by males drawn to their prize cash, which far exceeds native incomes.
Cheptegei’s sporting successes embrace successful the 2021 World Mountain and Path Working Championships in Thailand, and a 12 months later incomes first place within the Padova Marathon in Italy and setting a nationwide report for the marathon.
Born in japanese Uganda in 1991, she met Marangach throughout a coaching go to to Kenya, later transferring to the nation to pursue her dream of turning into an elite runner.
Marangach died a couple of days after Cheptegei, from burns allegedly sustained through the assault, dividing opinion among the many native working group.
“Justice really would have been for him to sit in jail and think about what he had done,” stated marathoner Viola Cheptoo, co-founder of Tirop’s Angels, a help group for athletes going through home violence in Kenya.
The circumstances of Cheptegei’s demise shocked the world, however her title could but encourage future athletes, with the French capital planning to call a sports activities facility in her honour.
“She dazzled us here in Paris. We saw her. Her beauty, her strength, her freedom,” town’s mayor Anne Hidalgo informed reporters. “Paris will not forget her.”
