Ugandan athlete who died will get a army funeral

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BUKWO, Uganda (AP) — 1000’s of mourners in Uganda paid their respects Saturday to Rebecca Cheptegei, the Olympic athlete who died final week in Kenya after her companion set her on fireplace. The army funeral occurred in a distant city close to the Kenyan border.

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Navy officers performed a outstanding position within the funeral as a result of Cheptegei held the rank of sergeant in Uganda’s military, mentioned army spokesman Brig. Felix Kulayigye, including that she deserved a “gun salute that befits her rank.”

Athletes, members of the family and others delivered their eulogies earlier than 1000’s in a sports activities area within the district of Bukwo. Many condemned home violence.

Cheptegei, who was 33, was buried at her father’s homestead.

She died after her physique suffered 80% burns within the assault by Dickson Ndiema, who doused her in gasoline at her dwelling in western Kenya’s Trans-Nzoia County on Sept. 3. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his physique and later succumbed to his accidents.

In response to a report filed by the native chief, they quarrelled over a chunk of land the athlete purchased in Kenya.

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The horrific gasoline assault shocked many and strengthened requires the safety of feminine runners dealing with exploitation and abuse within the East African nation.

Cheptegei’s physique was returned to Uganda on Friday in a sombre procession following a road march by dozens of activists within the western Kenyan city of Eldoret who demanded an finish to violence towards feminine athletes.

Cheptegei is the fourth feminine athlete to have been killed by her companion in Kenya in a worrying sample of gender-based violence in recent times. Kenya’s excessive charges of violence towards girls have prompted a number of marches this yr.

Ugandan officers have condemned the assault, demanding justice for Cheptegei. First girl Janet Museveni, who additionally serves as Uganda’s training and sports activities minister, described the assault as “deeply disturbing.”

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Don Rukare, chairman of the Nationwide Council of Sports activities of Uganda, mentioned in an announcement on X that the assault was “a cowardly and mindless act that has led to the lack of an ideal athlete.”

4 in 10 girls, or an estimated 41% of courting or married Kenyan girls, have skilled bodily or sexual violence perpetrated by their present or most up-to-date companion, in line with the 2022 Kenya Demographic and Well being Survey.

Many Ugandan athletes prepare throughout the border in Kenya, an athletics powerhouse with higher amenities. A number of the area’s finest runners prepare collectively at a high-altitude heart in Kenya’s west.

Cheptegei competed within the girls’s marathon on the Paris Olympics, ending in forty fourth place, lower than a month earlier than the assault. She had represented Uganda at different competitions.

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