‘Outrage’ over killing of wife of Ugandan Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei

On August 11, Rebecca Cheptegei appeared in front of the world’s cameras as one of the runners competing for a medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. His final placement as he passed away this Thursday, September 5th. On Sunday, the 33-year-old athlete was hospitalized after her home was doused with gasoline and set on fire while returning from church with her children. According to a Kenyan daily Standard:the marathon runner lived with her sister and two daughters aged 9 and 11. The identified suspect, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, is none other than his companion. According to AFP, he was also burned and hospitalized but in a “stable” condition, on a ventilator and “now under 24-hour police surveillance”. Burned “more than 80%”, “hopes of recovery were slim” and Rebecca Cheptegei suffered “multiple organ failure”. A police report seen by AFP described the athlete and the suspect as “a couple who had ongoing domestic disputes”. This time, according to Rebecca Cheptege’s father, the attack was over the land his daughter had bought to build her house.

Reality check

After the announcement of the marathon runner’s death, the organizers of the Paris Olympics responded to AFP, expressing their “deep indignation” and “infinite sadness”. Describing Rebecca Cheptegei as a “great athlete”, they said they were “proud” to welcome her, noting that she had “contributed to the success of the Paris 2024 Games”. “This heinous crime reminds us of the alarming reality of violence that affects far too many women in society,” they added. Indeed, the femicide of the marathon runner has refocused attention on this scourge, making it clear, if necessary, that it spares no woman, not even the Olympians. For its part, the United Nations, through UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric, “strongly” condemned what it described as a “brutal killing”. “Gender-based violence is one of the most common human rights violations in the world and must be treated as such,” she insisted.

Women’s rights organizations in Kenya have called on the authorities to fight gender-based violence in the country. Far from being a tragic exception, Rebecca Cheptegi’s murder is the third killing of a high-profile female athlete in Kenya since 2021. A report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) states that 725 women were killed in gender-related killings. in 2022, the highest figure in agency data dating back to 2015. Femicide Count Kenya, which mainly records cases reported in the media, counted 58 between January and October 2022. He cited 152 femicides in 2023, but “the real number is probably much higher,” he says.

Another case of femicide, this time an attempt, also came to light during the Paris Games, but this time at the Paralympics. It’s Tracy Otto, an American athlete who competed for the archery team on September 3. On October 24, 2019, she came close to death after her ex-partner entered her home before shooting and stabbing her several times. She had left him a month ago when he was violent.