In a shocking turn of events, the man responsible for the heinous murder of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei, who brutally set her ablaze, has succumbed to the very same flames that took her life. The perpetrator, Dickson Ndiema, died from severe burns at a Kenyan hospital following complications.
He died on Monday night, September 9, 2024, at the intensive care unit, where he had been admitted with burns on more than 40% of his body, according to the hospital.
“He developed respiratory failure as a result of the severe airway burns and sepsis that led to his eventual death on Monday evening despite life-saving measures,” a press release from Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital stated.
Local media reported that he snuck into Cheptegei’s home in western Kenya’s Trans Nzoia county with a 5-litre petrol can. He poured it on her and set her on fire, but some of the fuel splashed on him, too, and both parties caught on fire, leading to Cheptegei’s death.
Ndiema was set to face charges as police said they were treating Cheptegei’s death as murder, with the former boyfriend named as the main suspect.
But now that Ndiema has died, the criminal case has been dropped, and an inquest into the two deaths will be opened instead to get more details surrounding their deaths.
Cheptegei’s death sparks outrage
Cheptegei’s death shocked people across the world, with fellow Ugandans saying she was an inspiration to them. The 33-year-old Olympian was the third female athlete to be killed in Kenya over the last three years. In each case, current or former romantic partners were named as the main suspects by police.
Commenting on the increased attacks on female athletes, Joan Chelimo, who co-founded Tirop’s Angels to fight violence against women said, “[This is] because they go against traditional gender norms where the woman is just in the kitchen and just cooking and taking care of kids. But now female athletes are becoming more independent, financially independent.”
Rachel Kamweru, a spokesperson for the government’s department for gender and affirmative action told the BBC, “We don’t want this to happen to any other woman, whether an athlete or from the village, or a young girl.”
Cheptegei is set to be buried on Saturday, September 14th at her ancestral home in Bukwo, Uganda. Justice may have been served, but the memory of Rebecca Cheptegei’s senseless and tragic death will never be forgotten.
