The previous boyfriend of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei, who killed her by setting her on hearth, has himself died from burns sustained within the assault, a Kenyan hospital official has stated.
Dickson Ndiema ambushed the marathon runner as she returned residence from church greater than per week in the past. He then doused her with petrol and set her ablaze.
Native directors stated the 2 had been in battle over a small piece of land in north-west Kenya, the place Cheptegei lived and skilled.
Ndiema died on Monday night time on the intensive care unit, the place in keeping with the hospital, he had been admitted with burns on greater than 40% of his physique.
“He developed respiratory failure because of the extreme airway burns and sepsis that led to his eventual demise on Monday night at 18:30 hours [15:30 GMT] regardless of life-saving measures,” a press launch from Moi Educating and Referral Hospital stated.
Cheptegei died final Thursday – 4 days after she was attacked. She suffered burns to greater than 80% of her physique.
Neighbours stated that on the day of the assault, they heard screams earlier than Cheptegei got here operating in the direction of them shouting for assist.
Native media reported that Ndiema had sneaked into Cheptegei’s residence in western Kenya’s Trans Nzoia county with a five-litre jerry can stuffed with petrol.
A few of the gas he doused Cheptegei with splashed onto his personal physique, in keeping with stories. In consequence, Ndiema received caught within the hearth after he set his former associate alight.
Ndiema was to face expenses as police stated they had been treating Cheptegei’s demise as homicide, with the previous boyfriend named as the primary suspect.
However now that Ndiema has died, the felony case has been dropped and an inquest into the 2 deaths can be opened as a substitute.
Each Ndiema and Cheptegei had been admitted to Moi Hospital earlier than their deaths.
Cheptegei’s demise shocked individuals internationally, with fellow Ugandans saying she was an inspiration to them.
The 33-year-old Olympian was the third athlete to be killed in Kenya during the last three years. In every case, present or former romantic companions had been named as the primary suspects by police.
In 2021, world-record holder Agnes Tirop was stabbed to demise and 6 months later Damaris Mutua was strangled.
Cheptegei was born on the Kenyan facet of the Kenya-Uganda border, however selected to cross over and signify Uganda to chase her athletics dream when she didn’t get a breakthrough in Kenya.
When she first received into operating, she joined the Uganda Folks’s Defence Forces in 2008 and rose to sergeant rank.
Her profession included competing on this yr’s Paris Olympics. Though she got here forty fourth within the marathon, individuals in her residence space known as her “champion”.
She additionally received gold on the World Mountain and Path Operating Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2022.
Cheptegei is ready to be buried on Saturday at her ancestral residence in Bukwo, Uganda.
Assaults on ladies have turn into a serious concern in Kenya. In 2022 no less than 34% of girls stated that they had skilled bodily violence, in keeping with a nationwide survey.