Ugandan marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei has died in hospital from her injuries after being the victim of a petrol attack in her home.
Cheptegei was treated in hospital for 80 percent burns after she was set on fire by her boyfriend on Sunday.
She was admitted to the intensive care unit of the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, Kenya.
The hospital’s acting director, Dr. Owen Menach, confirmed on Wednesday evening that Cheptegei had died.
“Unfortunately, we lost her after all her organs failed last night,” Menach said, as reported by Kenyan newspaper The Star.
Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei (center) has died in hospital, it has been announced
The hospital is expected to release a full report later today.
Cheptegei had returned to Kenya after competing in the Paris Olympics, where she represented Uganda in the marathon.
Kenyan police confirmed that the jogger was attacked at her home in the western Trans Nzoia County, near the border with Uganda.
Trans Nzoia County police chief Jeremiah Ole Kosiom said her former partner, reportedly her ex-boyfriend Dickson Ndiema, bought a can of petrol, poured it on her and set her alight during a disagreement on Sunday.
Her father Joseph Cheptegei, who spoke from hospital earlier this week with his other daughter Evalyne Chelagat, claimed the two had a dispute over her land in Endebes in Trans-Nzoia shortly before the alleged attack.
“They were just friends and I wonder why he wanted to take my daughter’s things,” Cheptegei Snr said. The Starwhich also shows that his daughter’s two children were fathered by another man living in Uganda.
He further alleged that Cheptegei and Ndiema – who he said have been separated for a long time – are involved in a case being investigated by the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) in Kenya.
According to Cheptegei Snr and Police Chief Kosiom, the ex-boyfriend sneaked into his daughter’s house to stage the attack.
“It is believed the friend sneaked into the compound around 2pm on Sunday while his wife and children were in church,” Kosiom said, according to Kenyan newspaper The Standard.
When he returned, Dickson, who had fetched gasoline, began pouring gasoline over Rebecca before setting her on fire.
‘The couple were heard arguing outside their home. During the altercation, the boyfriend was seen pouring a liquid on the woman before burning her.
‘The suspect was also caught in the fire and suffered serious burns.’
According to Menach, the alleged ex-boyfriend who attacked him was also admitted to the same hospital with 30 percent burns.