OLYMPIC marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who was set ablaze by her former boyfriend and later died has been buried in her father’s homestead in eastern Uganda.
As she was also a member of Uganda’s armed forces, soldiers carried the coffin and she was given a three-volley salute.
Dickson Ndiema attacked Cheptegei with petrol just under a fortnight ago outside her home in neighbouring north-west Kenya, close to where she trained.
The 33-year-old’s killing, and its brutal nature, left her family distraught and shocked many others across the world.
It underscored the high levels of violence against women in Kenya and the fact that several female athletes have been victims in recent years.
Among those at the sombre and emotional funeral ceremony in a school field in Bukwo, Cheptegei’s home district, were fellow athletes wearing black T-shirts with the slogan “say no to gender-based violence”.
“We are guilty as [a] government, but also the community is guilty,” Kenya’s Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Kipchumba Murkomen told mourners.
“Let us say the truth. It is not true that we did not know even in the local community that Rebecca was facing family problems.”
Cheptegei and Ndiema had reportedly been wrangling over a piece of land.
One of her teammates at the recent Paris Olympics, Stella Chesang, also spoke.
“It is really a sad moment in Uganda… and all of us friends. As a team who we went to Paris with Rebecca, we really felt it because… we were together, enjoying together and it is really sad,” she said.
The Olympic marathon – in which she came 44th – was Cheptegei’s last race.
