The former partner of the late Ugandan Olympic marathon runner, Rebecca Cheptegei, who set her ablaze leading to her death, has died from injuries sustained during the attack.
Cheptegei, 33, suffered burns to over 75% of her body in the September 1 attack and passed away four days later.
Dickson Marangach, the attacker, died at 7:50 p.m. on Monday, according to Daniel Lang’at, a spokesperson at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, western Kenya, where Cheptegei was treated and died.
“He died from his injuries, the burns he sustained,” Lang’at said. Marangach had suffered 30% burns during the assault, which occurred as Cheptegei returned home from church with her children.
Viola Cheptoo, co-founder of Tirop’s Angels, a support group for survivors of domestic violence in Kenya’s athletic community, expressed her emotion saying:
“Justice would have been for him to sit in jail and think about what he had done. This is not positive news whatsoever.”
Tirop’s Angels was founded in memory of Agnes Tirop, a rising star in Kenya’s athletics scene, who was found dead in her home in October 2021 with multiple stab wounds.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph Cheptegei, told reporters the dispute with Marangach had been over the property where she lived with her sister and daughters.
He told Kenyan media last week that Marangach had bought five liters (1.3 gallons) of petrol and then hid out in a chicken coop before the attack.
Cheptegei’s death highlights the growing concern of domestic violence in Kenya, particularly within its running community.
According to rights groups, female athletes in Kenya are at high risk of exploitation and violence at the hands of men drawn to their prize money, which far exceeds local incomes.
This tragic incident marks the third elite sportswoman killed in Kenya since October 2021.
