NAIROBI: A Ugandan Olympian is in intensive care in a Kenyan hospital after being doused with petrol and set on fire allegedly by her partner, officials said on Tuesday, the latest horrific incident of gender-based violence in the East African country.

Long-distance runner Rebecca Cheptegei, 33, 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, police said.

“Dickson, who had procured petrol, began pouring (it) on Rebecca before he set her ablaze,” a police report said late on Monday, adding that he was also injured by the flames.

It said that neighbours had rescued the pair and taken them to 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,” a MTRH staff member told AFP, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

The police report did not mention if Cheptegei’s children were hurt in the attack.

The Ugandan athlete and Marangach were a couple who “constantly had family wrangles”, the police report said.

Local media said the athlete had sustained burns over 75 per cent of her body, and that her parents were travelling from Uganda to visit her.

They said their daughter had bought land and built a house in the Trans-Nzoia area which lies on the border with Uganda, according to local media.

Cheptegei placed 44th in the marathon at the Paris Olympics.

The Ugandan Athletics Federation expressed its regret over the incident, saying Cheptegei had “suffered severe injuries”.

“This follows an incident involving her Kenyan boyfriend pouring petrol and setting fire on her,” it said in a statement on X.

A report by the Kenyan Bureau of National Statistics published in January 2023 found that 34 per cent of women in Kenya have experienced physical violence since the age of 15.

It said women who had “been married are much more likely to have experienced violence”, noting that 41 per cent of such women reported incidents compared to 20 per cent of unmarried women.

The assault on Cheptegei comes two years after Kenyan-born athlete Damaris Mutua was found dead in Iten, a world-famous running hub in the Rift Valley in the west of the country.

Her death followed the murder of record-breaking runner Agnes Tirop, 25, who was found stabbed to death at her home in Iten in 2021.

Tirop’s estranged husband Emmanuel Ibrahim Rotich went on trial over her murder in 2023. He has denied the charges. His trial is ongoing.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2024