Uganda: Mourners pay tribute to Olympian Cheptegei

BUKWO: People in Uganda on Saturday paid tribute to Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei, who died after her partner set her on fire earlier this month.

Uganda held a military funeral for Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei in her home village of Bukwo. She was killed by her partner earlier this month.

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The 33-year-old debuted this summer in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics.

Mourners gather in Olympian’s home village

On Saturday morning, mourners paid their respects to Cheptegei in the village of Bukwo near Uganda’s border with Kenya.

She was formally laid to rest at 3:00 p.m. local time (1200 UTC).

“We are extremely saddened,” her estranged husband Simon Ayeko told France’s AFP news agency.

“As a father it has been very difficult,” he said. Ayeko has two daughters with Cheptegei.

The coffin was saluted by Ugandan military officers, who played a prominent role in the ceremony as Cheptegei held the rank of sergeant in Uganda’s army.

Local presidential representative Bessie Modest Ajilong told AFP that Cheptegei was a “heroine” and an “inspiration.”

What do we know about Cheptegei’s death?

The 33-year-old Olympian succumbed to severe burns last week after being attacked by her partner, Kenyan Dickson Ndiema Marangach.

Police said Marangach had sneaked into Cheptegei’s home in western Kenya’s Trans-Nzoia County to hide while she was at church with her children.

The couple had argued over ownership of the Kenyan property where she lived with her sister Dorcas Cherop and daughters, according to a police report.

Marangach also died from injuries sustained in the attack.

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Cheptegei is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya. Kenya’s high rates of femicide have sparked several marches this year.