The previous boyfriend of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei, who killed her by setting her on fireplace, has himself died from burns sustained within the assault, a Kenyan hospital official has stated.
Dickson Ndiema ambushed the marathon runner as she returned house from church greater than per week in the past. He then doused her with petrol and set her ablaze.
Native directors stated the 2 had been in battle over a small piece of land in north-west Kenya, the place Cheptegei lived and educated.
Ndiema died on Monday evening on the intensive care unit, the place based on the hospital, he had been admitted with burns on greater than 40% of his physique.
“He developed respiratory failure because of the extreme airway burns and sepsis that led to his eventual dying on Monday night at 18:30 hours [15:30 GMT] regardless of life-saving measures,” a press launch from Moi Instructing and Referral Hospital stated.
Cheptegei died final Thursday – 4 days after she was attacked. She suffered burns to greater than 80% of her physique.
Neighbours stated that on the day of the assault, they heard screams earlier than Cheptegei got here operating in the direction of them shouting for assist.
Native media reported that Ndiema had sneaked into Cheptegei’s house in western Kenya’s Trans Nzoia county with a five-litre jerry can filled with petrol.
Among the gas he poured on Cheptegei splashed onto his personal physique, based on studies. Because of this, Ndiema obtained caught within the fireplace after he set his former accomplice alight.
Ndiema was to face expenses as police stated they have been treating Cheptegei’s dying as homicide, with the previous boyfriend named as the principle suspect.
However now that Ndiema has died, the felony case has been dropped and an inquest into the 2 deaths shall be opened as an alternative.
Each Ndiema and Cheptegei have been admitted to Moi Hospital earlier than their deaths.
Cheptegei’s dying shocked individuals the world over, with fellow Ugandans saying she was an inspiration to them.
The 33-year-old Olympian was the third feminine athlete to be killed in Kenya over the past three years. In every case, present or former romantic companions have been named as the principle suspects by police.
In 2021, world-record holder Agnes Tirop was stabbed to dying and 6 months later Damaris Mutua was strangled.
“I do not want dangerous issues on anybody, however after all I’d have beloved for him to face the regulation for example for others in order that these assaults on girls can cease,” Beatrice Ayikoru, secretary-general of the Uganda Olympic Committee, advised the Reuters information company.
Cheptegei was born on the Kenyan aspect of the Kenya-Uganda border, however selected to cross over and characterize Uganda to chase her athletics dream when she didn’t get a breakthrough in Kenya.
When she first obtained into operating, she joined the Uganda Individuals’s Defence Forces in 2008 and rose to sergeant rank.
Her profession included competing on this yr’s Paris Olympics. Though she got here forty fourth within the marathon, individuals in her house space known as her “champion”.
She additionally gained gold on the World Mountain and Path Operating Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2022.
Cheptegei is ready to be buried on Saturday at her ancestral house in Bukwo, Uganda.
Assaults on girls have turn into a serious concern in Kenya. In 2022 not less than 34% of ladies stated that they had skilled bodily violence, based on a nationwide survey.
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