Thousands of mourners in Uganda paid respects to Rebecca Cheptegei, the Olympic athlete who died last week in Kenya after her partner set her on fire, at a military funeral in a remote town near the Kenyan border. (More Sports News)
Military officers played a prominent role in the funeral because Cheptegei 🍸held the rank of sergeant in Uganda's army,💦 said military spokesman Brig. Felix Kulayigye, adding that she deserved a “gun salute that befits her rank."
Athletes, family members and others delivered their eulog💦ies before thousands in a sports field in the district of Bukwo.
Cheptegei, who was 33, will be buried later on S🍬aturday.
She died after her body suffered 80% burns in the attack by Dickson🦋 Ndiema, who doused her in gasoline at her home in western Kenya's Trans-Nzoia County on Sept. 3. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed to his i🌜njuries.
According to a report filed by the local chief, they quarreled over a piece 🔯of 🅺land the athlete bought in Kenya.
The horrific g🎉asoline attack shocked many and strengthened calls for the protection of female runners facing exploitation and abuse in the East African country.
Cheptegei's body was returned to Uganda Frida🌳y in a somber procession following a street march by dozens of activists in the western Kenyan town of Eldoret who demanded an end to physical violence against female athletes.
Cheptegei is the fourth f꧒emale athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in a worrying pattern of gender-based violence in recent years. Kenya's high rates of violence against women have prompted several marches this year.
Ugandan officials have condemned the attack, demanding justice for Cheptegei. First lady Janet Museveni, who also serves as Uganda's education and sports minister, described the attack as “deeply disturbiꦡng.”
Don Rukare, chairman 𒈔of the National Council of Sports of Uganda, said in a statement on X that the attack was “a cowardly and senseles👍s act that has led to the loss of a great athlete.”
Four in 10 women, or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women, have experienced physical or sexual viol𒊎ence perpetrated by their current orꦑ most recent partner, according to the 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey.
Many Ugandan athletes train ac𒀰ross the border in Kenya, an athletics powerhouse with better facilities. S🀅ome of the region's best runners train together at a high-altitude center in Kenya's west.
Cheptegei competed in the women's marathon at the Paris 𝔉Olympics, finishing in 44th place, less than a month before the attack. She had represented Uganda at other competitions.
