Olympic runner Cheptegei has defied his abusive ex-wife. He lost his life anyway By Reuters

Written by Ammu Kannampilly

KINYORO, Kenya (Reuters) – On the morning of Sunday, September 1, Olympic Marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei was preparing to go to church from her home in the deserts of western Kenya. Her ex-boyfriend called his friend and asked if he could borrow a light fixture.

He said he had an “emergency” and was leaving town, a friend, retired runner Dennis Masai Chepkongin, told Reuters at his home in Mount Elgon, where Cheptegei lived.

“He just hid a lot when I asked him why,” said Chepkongin, adding that he had refused the request.

Hours later, Cheptegei's ex-boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, doused the runner with petrol and set her on fire, according to her family and the police.

Both would die in hospital from their burns. Marangach could not be reached for comment before his death, and Reuters could not independently confirm the details of what happened that day.

The police officer, who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak to the media, confirmed that Marangach was being investigated for murder at the time of his death.

The area around Cheptegei's home in the quiet village of Kinyoro bore witness to the tragic death. The stadium was hot and drenched with fuel when reporters visited last weekend. Her 17-year-old sister, Dorka, who was attacked with a machete, sat silently crying, her body doubled over, or staring into space.

The killing of Cheptegei shortly after the athlete competed for Uganda in the Olympics in Paris shocked the world. But it did not surprise Cheptegei or his family, his parents told Reuters.

Their story sheds light on the dark side of success for female athletes in Kenya's patriarchal society. Elite runners can earn more in one race than most Kenyans earn in a year. They say that their success often makes them victims of men who try to exploit them and take control of their property.

Cheptegei was the third female runner to be killed in Kenya since 2021, allegedly by her lover. He was supposed to be buried in Uganda's Bukwo region on Saturday, according to the country's athletics federation. Local media reported that the athlete, who was also a member of the Ugandan security forces, will be buried with military honors.

He had tried to defend himself.

A 33-year-old single mother of two born in neighboring Uganda, Cheptegei was out of a relationship with Marangach, managed her own money and supported her family including her parents, twelve siblings and her two daughters, aged 9. and 11, family members said.

She went to the police at least three times this year to report threats and harassment from Marangach, said her father, Joseph.

He shared with Reuters police slips confirming the complaints he filed in February and May, in Kinyoro and the nearby town of Kitale.

“This man is going to kill my child,” Joseph told police in February, after Marangach allegedly beat her and broke her phone.

He said the police told Marangach to leave Cheptegei's house, but he did not listen. “So we went back to the police who were unwilling to do anything else. My daughter died because the police failed.”

Neither local nor national police responded to a request for comment on that point. Government spokesman Isaac Mwaura did not respond to questions from Reuters.

The killing of Cheptegei has left other female runners in despair, who they call the continued inaction of the authorities and the organization that oversees the sport nationally, Athletics Kenya.

“No one should be held accountable,” said Joan Chelimo, founder of Tirop's Angels, a non-profit organization set up to support victims of domestic violence after Kenyan long-distance runner Agnes Tirop was stabbed to death in 2021.

Tirop's husband, Ibrahim Rotich, was charged with murder. He denied the charges and was released on bail last year. His case is still ongoing and his lawyer declined to comment.

Kenyan runner from Bahrain Damaris Mutua was also killed in 2022. Her Ethiopian boyfriend was named as a suspect. Kenyan police say he fled to Kenya.

Kenya's Sports Minister Kipchumba Murkomen condemned the attack on Cheptegei and promised that action would be taken.

Advisor to President William Ruto said the authorities are working to prevent violence against women in sports. But activists say its efforts are failing.

“THE STRAIGHT MAN”

Violence against women is a serious problem in Kenya. One in three adolescent girls and women has been a victim, according to 2022 government data.

Femicide Count Kenya, an NGO that uses media reports to document gender-motivated killings, has recorded 157 femicides so far in 2024 – the highest number in a year since it began collecting data in 2019.

“There are many women who face violence but they do not get help from the police,” said Audrey Mugeni, who is the founder of this group.

Elizabeth Keitany, who is on the executive committee of Athletics Kenya, said her team has helped six young women escape abusive relationships since 2022, offering them a safe place to stay and counseling.

“Any case reported to us, we are very quick,” he told Reuters.

Esther Chemtai, 24, an athlete from Cheptegei, said that when she was 18 years old, she once fell in love with a man who wanted her to give him all the money she earned. When she refused, he beat her.

Chemtai left him in January 2023, assisted by Tirop's Angels, who supported and advised him, he said.

Chemtai called Cheptegei a “direct person” who does not hesitate to move away from controlling men.

“If he says no, it means no,” said Chemtai.

Cheptegei was also devoted to his family, buying his father a property worth $1,200 in 2016 — the equivalent of 11 months of Kenya's minimum wage at the time.

He met Marangach, a struggling taxi driver who wanted to be an athlete, in 2020 or 2021 while living in Uganda, his family said. Marangach urged him to move to Kenya to train at Iten, a center for high-level runners and a training center for high-altitude tourists.

He built a house just over two hours' drive from Iten in Kinyoro and moved there in 2021, according to retired runner Chepkongin. A former U20 world champion, he said he met him then.

The home is a two-bedroom house in a small area in a quiet area with little infrastructure. The roads are unpaved and potholed, electricity access is limited — on a clear night, the Milky Way is visible — but being close to Iten was great for training.

The police chief said that Marangach has the title to that land. Cheptegei's father rejects this request. He showed Reuters a photo of the deed signed and stamped in March 2021, which listed Rebecca as the buyer of the land in Kinyoro, and Marangach as a witness.

His family and Chepkongin say Cheptegei supports Marangach financially. The retired runner said he had been friends with Marangach since 2018 and helped pay for rent, training kit and other expenses.

“Dickson had no money before Rebecca came into his life,” he said.

Marangach's two sisters told Reuters that his family was really poor. But her elder sister, Naomi Chebet Kiprop, said the couple had raised money to buy the property where Cheptegei lives with her daughters.

“God would help Dickson find a place to call home,” he told Reuters.

“Now that Dickson is dead, we have no choice.”

“EVERYONE WAS DOING IT TO HIM”

Cheptegei ended the relationship with Marangach in January, his father said. In May, he reported Marangach to the police after he sent men to try to intimidate him into giving up his land and house.

Chepkongin and Samwel Kibet, another friend of Marangach, said he did not listen to their advice to leave Cheptegei alone.

Cheptegei went to the police again on Friday, August 30. The police told him to come back the following Monday, according to his father, his companions, and Chepkongin.

A local police chief said the police saw the crisis as a global conflict after the relationship had deteriorated, adding that the police thought they had “made peace” between the two.

As Cheptegei and his family were at church that Sunday morning, Marangach climbed a barbed wire wall and hid inside a chicken coop until he returned, his father said, citing his sister Dorcas' account.

Marangach attacked Rebecca and stabbed Dorcas with a machete when she tried to mediate, said Joseph Cheptegei.

Dorcas did not speak to Reuters about the attack, but emphasized her sister's campaign to survive.

“My sister always told me that it is very important for a woman to have her own money, to be equipped, and not to depend on anyone,” she said.

Cheptegei burned up to 80% of his body. When he was hospitalized, his father said he could only hear his own voice. He died four days later.

For Cheptegei's family, in mourning at their home an hour's drive from Rebecca's, anger matches the depth of their loss.

“In this compound, everyone was counting on him, I don't know what to do now,” said his mother Agnes with tears in her eyes.