After the attack, I saw an athlete on fire sprinting towards me, a neighbor tells the media .
"I was in the home and heard people shouting 'fire,'" remembers Rebecca Cheptegei's immediate neighbor Agnes Barabara with tears in her eyes. "When I walked out, I saw Rebecca rushing towards my house on attack, shouting: rescue me."
The 33-year-old athlete resided in a residence in northwest Kenya. Flowers had been strewn on the burned grassland where she rolled to put out the blazes that were consuming her. Ms. Cheptegei passed away on Thursday due to injuries she allegedly received days earlier while within their homes with her two girls from her former lover dousing her in gasoline and setting her ablaze.
Ms. Barabara goes on, "Her attacker reappeared and poured more gasoline on her as I rushed to look for water and began calling out for help." However, he was also scorched, so he fled into the garden to try to put it out. We then proceeded to assist Rebecca. Ms. Barabara claims she had never witnessed someone "burn alive" before and that for days following the occurrence, she was unable to eat.
The neighbor continues, "She was a very wonderful neighbor and only recently she shared with me corn she'd harvested. The primary suspect in the killing is Ms. Cheptegei's ex-partner, who is being investigated by authorities as a homicide. The matter is still pending resolution, according to local administrators, who stated that the two had been at odds over the little plot of property where Ms. Cheptegei resided. After he leaves the hospital, where he is still recovering from his wounds from the incident, he will be charged in court. Divisional Criminal Investigations Officer Kennedy Apindi stated, "We have created a file; inquiries are at a high level."
Agnes, the mother of Ms. Cheptegei, stated that her daughter "was usually attentive as a child, and very compassionate and jovial all through her life". Ms. Cheptegei's friend and neighbor Emmanual Kimutai, who went to school with her, called her a "very dynamic" and "passionate" person. "She was already excelling in athletics in primary school; she was our champion," Mr. Kimutai remarked. The Olympian was born in Kenya, but after failing to make progress in Kenya, she decided to cross across the border and represent Uganda in order to pursue her dream of being an athlete. She joined the Uganda People's Defence Forces in 2008 after becoming interested in athletics, and she eventually attained the rank of sergeant.
This year, she participated in the Olympics in Paris as part of her career. People in her hometown referred to her as "champion" even though she finished the marathon in 44th place. She resided in the remote community of Chepkum, Kenya, which is about 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the Ugandan border. The village's primary industry is farming. Cows, goats, and sheep are frequently seen grazing outside of residences, and residents also take care of the cattle. The larger region, known as Trans-Nzoia County, is renowned for being Kenya's top producer of maize, the primary component of the nation's staple diet.
When she was not competing or training in Uganda, the locals at a shopping center next to her home talked warmly about a woman they occasionally waved at as she trained along the road. There, individuals frequently spoke of being humble and kind.
She was a recognized athlete, but her personal life was in disarray. Because of the ongoing arguments she had with her ex-partner that started last year, her former classmate claimed she did not "have peace". Her brother Jacob said, "They used to live altogether but started falling out because of money last year." "He questioned my sister: what do you do with all the cash you make?" The two had previously submitted domestic problems at separate stations, which they later dropped, according to police, who spoke with the media.
The family of Ms. Cheptegei is still getting ready for her farewell trip while they wait for justice. On September 14, she will be buried in the ancestral home in Bukwo, Uganda. The Ugandan is the third sportsman to die in Kenya in the previous three years; authorities have identified intimate partners as the primary suspects in each case. The gender-based violence campaign group Tirop's Angels, led by athletes, stated that the pattern needs to stop. Co-founder of Tirop's Angels Joan Chelimo added, "What is terrible is her children witnessed their mother's attack," while stifling her tears.
It's time for this aggression against athletes to end.
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