Ugandan athlete Rebecca Cheptegei, who competed in the marathon at the Paris Olympics, was admitted to a Kenyan hospital on Monday with numerous burns after an alleged attack by her boyfriend, police said.
The incident occurred in Trans Nzoia County in western Kenya, from where the athlete was rushed to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in the western city of Eldoret due to the severity of her injuries, Efe reported. The hospital’s executive director, Owen Menach, said that the athlete arrived at the hospital and was quickly taken to critical care, Reuters reported. “The amount of burns is 80%, which is very severe,” added Menach. The athlete, who owns a house in Kenya and finished 44th in the marathon, usually spends time there to carry out her training.
County police commander Jeremiah Ole Kosiom confirmed the incident was allegedly caused by a domestic dispute, the local newspaper reported. The StarCheptegei, 33, was allegedly attacked by her boyfriend, who doused her with petrol and set her on fire. The athlete’s father, Joseph Cheptegei, said the couple “bought five litres of petrol in Endebes and went to where Rebecca lived with her children, while the children were at church.”
The athlete’s parents, Joseph Cheptegei and Agnes Ndiema, said she was initially admitted to Level Four Hospital in Kitale, the capital of Trans Nzoia, but was referred to the centre in Eldoret. The parents, who travelled to Trans Nzoia to learn about the attack, said their daughter, a resident of Uganda, had bought land in the Kenyan county and built a house where she stayed during her training sessions.
The 016 telephone line serves victims of gender-based violence, their families and those around them 24 hours a day, every day of the year, in 53 different languages. The number is not recorded on the telephone bill, but the call must be deleted from the device. You can also contact them via email. [email protected] and by WhatsApp at 600 000 016. Minors can contact the ANAR Foundation’s telephone number 900 20 20 10. If it is an emergency situation, you can call 112 or the National Police (091) and Civil Guard (062) telephone numbers. And if you are unable to call, you can use the ALERTCOPS application, which sends an alert signal to the Police with geolocation.
#Olympic #athlete #Rebecca #Cheptegei #critical #condition #partner #set #fire
