Dickson Ndiema, accused of fatally setting Ugandan athlete Rebecca Cheptegei ablaze, has died from burns sustained during the attack.
According to local authorities, Ndiema, Cheptegei’s ex-boyfriend, passed away on Monday.
Ndiema allegedly doused Cheptegei with petrol and set her on fire on September 1 in Trans Nzoia County, as she returned home from church.
Cheptegei, 33, suffered 80% body burns and died on September 5 at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret City.
Ndiema, also hospitalized for his injuries, initially had less critical wounds but ultimately succumbed to his burns.
The tragic incident has shocked the athletic community and sparked outrage over gender-based violence.
Reports filed by the local chief had said the two ex-lovers had been fighting over a piece of land.
Cheptegei, who lived in Kenya, represented Uganda at the 2024 Paris Olympics and finished 44th in the women’s marathon event.
She is the third elite sportswoman to be killed in Kenya in the last three years.
In 2021, Agnes Tirop was found stabbed to death at her home in Iten. The husband of the 25-year-old was also named the suspect in the murder.
In 2022, Damaris Mutua, another Kenyan-born athlete, was found dead in a house in Iten, and her then-boyfriend was also identified as a suspect.
