Grapevine

Slain Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei for burial September 14

“The burial date of Rebecca Cheptegei has been set for September 14, in Kongasis sub-county in Bukwo district (eastern Uganda),” Beatrice Ayikoru, secretary general of the Uganda Olympic Committee and a member of the funeral organising committee, told AFP.

Bukwo is the location of Cheptegei’s family home and lies on the border with Kenya about 380 kilometres (240 miles) northeast of the Ugandan capital Kampala.

Cheptegei’s death was greeted with anger and sorrow, the latest horrific act of gender-based violence in Kenya where at least two other athletes have lost their lives at the hands of their partners.

Doctors said she had suffered burns to more than 80 per cent of her body after the attack on Sunday last week.

Police say it was carried out by Cheptegei’s Kenyan partner, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, who also suffered serious burns and is being treated in hospital.