DICKSON Ndiema Mengich, the man accused of setting Ugandan marathoner Rebecca Cheptegei on fire, leading to her death, has died in a Kenyan hospital, reported Xinhua.
An official at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, western Kenya, confirmed that Ndiema, who had been admitted to the ICU with 30 per cent burns, succumbed to his injuries on Monday evening.
“Yes, it’s true we lost him last evening. We are waiting for the family so that we can give a more comprehensive report,“ the official told Xinhua on Tuesday morning.
Ndiema was accused of attacking Cheptegei at her home in Trans Nzoia County on Sept 1, reportedly over an unresolved land dispute. The marathoner had just returned home from church with her two children when the assailant, hiding nearby, doused her with petrol and set her on fire.
Efforts by her children and younger sister to extinguish the flames and save Cheptegei were thwarted by the attacker, who continued to pour petrol on the athlete.
During the attack, Ndiema, said to be an ex-lover of Cheptegei, also suffered burns when he lit a match to ignite more flames. He sustained 30 per cent burns.
Both were rushed to a hospital in Eldoret for treatment, where Cheptegei succumbed to her injuries on Sept 4, after suffering 80 per cent burns.
Cheptegei, who finished 44th in the women’s marathon at the Paris 2024 Olympics, will be buried with full military honours in Uganda on Saturday.
