A Ugandan Olympian is in the intensive care unit in a Kenyan hospital after being doused with petrol and set on fire allegedly by her partner.
Long-distance runner Rebecca Cheptegei, a 33-year-old female was assaulted after her Kenyan partner Dickson Ndiema Marangach reportedly snuck into her home in Endebess in the western county of Trans-Nzoia at around 2.00 pm on Sunday while she and her children were at church, according to police.
“Dickson, who had procured petrol, began pouring it on Rebecca before he set her ablaze,” stated a police report. The police report further stated that he (Dickson) also got injured by the flames.
The police further stated that the neighbours had rescued the pair and taken them to a nearby Kitale County Referral Hospital where they were admitted with “multiple burns”.
They were transferred to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), where Cheptegei was admitted to the intensive care unit on Monday.
“Her condition looks serious with facial burns and bandages,” noted a staff member at the MTRH.
The police also noted that the Ugandan athlete and Marangach were a couple who “constantly had family wrangles”, stated the police report.
