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The man who set fire to Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei last Sunday has also died from injuries he sustained in the fatal attack on the Ugandan athlete.

Cheptegei, 33, suffered multiple organ failure last week and tragically passed away in a hospital in Eldoret, Kenya, days after she sustained 80% burns when ex-boyfriend Dickson Ndiema threw petrol on her and set her alight amid a bitter argument.

Ndiema also received considerable burns and was rushed to the same hospital, where Kenyan police said he would be arrested once he had recovered enough from his injuries.

But officials at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital confirmed this Tuesday morning that Ndiema also succumbed to his injuries late last night.

‘Dickson Ndiema Marangach has died from 30 per cent burns he sustained when he set his girlfriend Rebecca Cheptegei ablaze last week,’ the statement read.

‘The police believe he was burnt by the same petrol he used in setting Rebecca ablaze following a dispute over ownership of land one of them had bought.’

Ndiema’s savage attack on Cheptegei took place on Sunday, September 1.

The pair were heard by neighbours arguing loudly at Cheptegei’s home in Kenya’s western Trans Nzoia County where the athlete had recently moved to be closer to superior Kenyan training facilities.

Ndiema is said to have snapped and doused her with petrol from a jerry can before setting her alight.

Neighbours who heard the commotion came running to discover the Olympian engulfed in flames and tried to extinguish them, to no avail.

Agnes Barabara, who lives adjacent to Cheptegei’s home, told the BBC: ‘When I came out, I saw Rebecca running towards my house on fire, shouting: help me.

‘As I went to look for water and started calling out for help, her assailant appeared again and doused more petrol on her.’

Barabara added she could not eat for days after witnessing the incident from mere metres away, saying solemnly she had never seen anyone ‘burned alive’.

Cheptegei was born in Kenya close to the border with Uganda, but crossed over to represent the latter as her athletic career began to pick up speed.

A former sergeant in the Uganda People’s Defence Forces, Cheptegei displayed a talent for endurance running and resolved to compete in the marathon and other long distance events at the highest level.

In 2022, she won gold in the up and downhill mountain race at the inaugural World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Thailand.

Cheptegei also won the Padova marathon in Italy earlier that year, before finishing second in the Abu Dhabi marathon in 2hr 22min 47sec – the second fastest time by a female Ugandan.

The athlete was rushed to the intensive care unit at Eldoret’s Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in the wake of the attack, with some 80% of her body badly burned.

She was stabilised and there were hopes she could survive the ordeal early last week, but the facility’s acting director Dr Owen Menach confirmed Cheptegei died on Wednesday night after all her organs began to fail one after the other.

Ndiema, whom police named as the prime suspect in Cheptegei’s death – which is being treated as murder – also suffered significant burns in the attack and was set to be arraigned once doctors deemed him healthy enough to be released prior to his reported death.

Kenyan cops confirmed they found a five-litre jerry can, a bag and a scorched phone at the scene, with criminal investigations officer Kennedy Apindi saying in a statement: ‘We have opened a file, investigations are at an advanced stage.’

Police Commander Jeremiah ole Kosiom said: ‘The couple was heard quarrelling outside their house. During the altercation, the boyfriend was seen pouring a liquid on the woman before burning her. The suspect was also caught by the fire and sustained serious burns.’

Cheptegei’s father Joseph told journalists before news of Ndiema’s death that he hoped the man who killed his daughter would be brought to justice, adding that he was concerned he had not been detained already while in hospital.

‘As it is now, the criminal who harmed my daughter is a murderer and I am yet to see what the security officials are doing,’ he said.

Cheptegei leaves behind two children, aged nine and 11, who are fathered by a different man living in Uganda.

One of Cheptegei’s daughters is said to have witnessed the assault at her mother’s home last Sunday.

She told Kenya’s The Standard that Ndiema stopped her from trying to help her mother after she was set alight.

‘He kicked me while I tried to run to the rescue of my mother.

‘I immediately cried out for help, attracting a neighbour who tried to extinguish the flames with water, but it was not possible,’ added the girl, who has not been named.

Tributes for the fallen marathon runner flooded in last week.


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