After her partner attacked her and burned 80% of her body, Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei of Uganda passed away in a Kenyan hospital where she was receiving treatment. 33 was her age.
Cheptegei's passing was confirmed on Thursday by Owen Menach, a spokesman for Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret City. The long-distance runner's organs failed, according to Menach, and she passed away early in the morning. When she was brought into the hospital, she was completely drugged.
Less than a month before the incident, Cheptegei participated in the women's marathon at the Paris Olympics. She placed 44th overall.
Joseph Cheptegei, her father, expressed his wish for justice and said he had lost a "very loving" daughter to journalists in the hospital.
Cheptegei's partner, Dickson Ndiema, purchased a can of gasoline, spilled it on her, and lit her on fire after a Sunday argument, according to a statement made on Monday by Trans Nzoia County Police Commander Jeremiah Ole Kosiom. The same hospital was treating Ndiema, who had also sustained burns.
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