Slain Ugandan athlete to be buried tomorrow
The funeral for Ugandan Olympic runner, Rebecca Cheptegei, who died in Kenya after being set on fire by her boyfriend, will be held tomorrow in her home country, organisers said.
The 33-year-old, who competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics last month, succumbed to severe burns on Thursday, four days after being doused with petrol and set alight at her home in western Kenya.
“The burial date of Rebecca Cheptegei has been set for September 14,” Beatrice Ayikoru, Secretary General of the Uganda Olympic Committee and a member of the funeral organising committee, told AFP.
Bukwo is the location of Cheptegei’s family home and lies on the border with Kenya about 380 kilometres (240 miles) northeast of the Ugandan capital Kampala.
Doctors said she had suffered burns to more than 80 per cent of her body after the attack on Sunday last week.
Police say it was carried out by Cheptegei’s Kenyan partner, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, who also suffered serious burns and is being treated in hospital.
Kenyan media said Cheptegei’s children, aged nine and 11, had witnessed the attack.
The city of Paris said on Friday it would honour Cheptegei, who came 44th in her Olympic marathon debut in August, by naming a sports venue after her.
Tributes have poured in for the runner, who was Uganda’s women’s marathon record holder and also served in the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces, holding the rank of sergeant. —AFP
