The Ugandan Athlete Rebecca Cheptegei has been confirmed dead days after he was burnt by her kenyan boyfriend over domestic wrangles.
According to reports, Cheptegei suffered 80 per cent burns on Sunday after she was doused in petrol by her estranged boyfriend who also sustained burns during the incident.
Report by Trans Nzoia Police Commander Jeremiah Ole Koisiom confirmed that Cheptegei’s boyfriend bought a jerrican of petrol and poured it on her before setting Cheptegei a blaze.
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The cause of the action still remains a mystery but preliminary investigations reveal that the boyfriend had an argument with the athlete who was armed with petrol before he decided to torch her.
Further details by the area chief revealed that he heard the two fighting over the ownership of a piece of land where their house was built, a situation locals believed led to the tragic incident.
Cheptegei’s parents while speaking to the media about the incident also claimed that issues between the two started after their daughter bought the piece of land at the said place as she wished to be near the athletes’ training centre.
Responding to the incident, police officers who arrived at the scene managed to recover a five-litre jerrican containing petrol and a mobile phone believed to belong to the deceased’s boyfriend.
Uganda’s Athletics Federation released a statement condemning the incident, in its statement, the federation confirmed the athlete had sustained serious injuries.
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“We regret to announce that our athlete, Rebecca Cheptegei who competed at the Olympics has suffered severe injuries and is hospitalized at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret.”